


Something Borrowed, Something Blue ... And Two Pink Lines

by KaliopeShipsIt



Series: Alliteration-Verse [11]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Accidental Knotting, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Car Accidents, Derek and Stiles are Mates, Derek is a Good Parent, Derek is a Wardrobe Fail Wolf, Family Feels, Hurt Derek, Knotting, M/M, Mpreg, Original Character Baby Hale - Freeform, Original Character Leonie Hale, Pack Family, Pregnant Derek Hale, Pregnant Sex, Stiles Stilinski is a Good Parent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-25
Updated: 2014-05-29
Packaged: 2018-01-26 12:51:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 32,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1689005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaliopeShipsIt/pseuds/KaliopeShipsIt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On her third birthday, Leonie ‘Leo-Pie’ Hale has only three wishes: a dog, a fairy-tale wedding for her Daddy and Papa, and a baby-brother. Because her doting fathers are feeling generous, she ends up getting two special presents this year. </p><p>Sequel to "Stiles and Derek Have a Baby"</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please do not put my stuff on Goodreads. I was not aware that part of my stories were on there and I am not comfortable with having my fan fics circulated out of my control. 
> 
>  
> 
> I kept getting scenes stuck in my head for the sequel and then the rest just wrote itself basically.
> 
> Unlike the last one, this one's going to be a bit shorter (this is about half of the finished story, but it's still roughly 30K, so not toooo short) and the second chapter will be posted sometime within the next week. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

_June 26 th, 2026_

One of the advantages of having a daughter with a summer birthday in California was, in Derek’s opinion, the ability to celebrate her special day with a barbecue cookout in their backyard without having to clean the entire house afterwards. Not that their house was the cleanest of places to begin with, considering he not only lived with a three year old werewolf but also her chaotic father, but nevertheless, he enjoyed that they could usually depend on the 26th of June being a warm, sunny day.

The birthday girl was currently sitting on her Uncle Scott’s lap and staring at the newest little pack member, who was safely nestled in Jackson’s arms and sucking on a bottle.

“I think Jackson just stole my baby,” an amused voice sounded out from behind Derek and he turned to smile at Allison, who had stepped up next to him with a Virgin Pina Colada.

“You’ll never get him back,” he agreed, before turning some of the steaks on the big grill in front of him. “I should know, I swear I did not see my child for almost an entire weekend when we all went out to Lydia’s beach house that one time when she was four months old and had just learned to suck on her toes. The only reason I saw her at all was because I was still nursing her and Jackson grudgingly admitted temporary surrender.”

“He did take about a hundred thousand photos of that incredible athletic achievement, I remember,” Allison grinned, her smile dimming only slightly at the mention of Lydia.

It had not been a big shock to the pack when Lydia and Jackson had broken up about a year ago, shortly after Allison and Scott had announced they were going to be parents, but they had all agreed that they had hoped it was not going to happen.

Lydia loved Leonie fiercely and she was equally fond of her godson, but she had decided that she wanted to have a career rather than a family with children, a decision that Derek and Stiles had unconsciously attributed to by proving to her just how time-consuming it was to be a parent.

Leonie’s birth had had the opposite effect on Jackson’s biological clock. Instead of shutting it down completely, it had jumpstarted the Beta’s desire for a family and after almost a year of fighting and bitterness they had come to the realization that they had to separate.

“I love him, I do, it’s just not fair to him to have to give up his life-dream of being a father, just as it would be unfair to me to give up my dream of becoming a successful career-woman,” Lydia had bawled on their porch afterwards, while Derek and Stiles had sat beside her helplessly.

Lydia had not wanted to bother Allison, who was still battling pregnancy fatigue and nausea, with her relationship drama and so she had slept on Derek and Stiles’ couch for almost three weeks until she and Jackson had sorted out all their affairs.

She had moved to San Francisco soon after and even though she was good about staying in contact and came for a visit at least every other month, her absence was felt by everyone in the pack.

Jackson had grieved for about half a year until a nasty incident with Leonie had snapped him out of his misery.

Technically, Allison’s pregnancy and Lydia’s subsequent final decision to never have a child had been the final nail in the coffin of their relationship’s demise, but since he couldn’t very well lash out at the seven-months pregnant mate of Beacon Hill’s resident True Alpha, Jackson had taken his frustrations out on Leonie one day.

It hadn’t been that dramatic, Jackson was far too gone on their daughter to ever truly hurt her, but his nerves had gotten the better of him one evening during a pack meeting. Leonie had toddled up to him with a bright smile on her face and her hands covered in blue glitter, and when she had attempted to climb on her uncle’s lap, Jackson had slapped her little hands away before they could soil his pants and flashed his Beta blue eyes at her in warning.

Leonie, who was doted on shamelessly by every single member of the pack and not used to aggression, had stumbled backwards in fear, fallen onto her diapered little butt and hit her head on the coffee table. It had not been hard enough to draw blood, but she had started screaming and crying immediately.

Before Stiles had had a chance to react, Derek had already shot out of his seat and – after throwing a quick glance at his daughter to make sure she was ok – had dragged Jackson off the couch and outside, growling so ferociously that Stiles would have almost been worried for Jackson’s safety, had his attention not been focused completely on his crying daughter.

“He’s not allowed near our child until he gets himself sorted out, I’ve had it with his behavior,” Derek had declared when he had walked back inside the house, his eyes still glowing red and his nostrils flaring, before he had forced himself back under control and bent down to leach the rest of the pain from his sniffling child’s head.

His decision had lasted for all of two weeks before Derek had strapped Leonie into her car seat and driven up to Jackson’s house.

“My child keeps asking me why her Uncle Jackson does not love her anymore, so I was wondering if you are done with your drama and ready to baby-sit your favorite little girl again,” he had snapped at Jackson when the Beta had opened the door, Leonie perched on his shoulders and making grabby hands at the blonde man.

Things had mostly gone back to normal afterwards and when he had gone to see Allison and Scott’s new baby boy at the hospital, Jackson had met a new teacher from the high school, who was there to visit her best friend’s new twins. It had been love at first sight and now, four months later, Jackson was slowly starting to ease her into the mysteries of the supernatural world. He had not brought her to the party, aware that presenting her with a baby that still flashed werewolf eyes at his father might be a little too overwhelming, and thus he was free to dote on the pack’s little ones.

Of course, in Jackson’s case doting meant that he had snatched the baby away from Allison upon arrival and had refused to surrender him since.

Leonie had been a little jealous in the beginning, not used to sharing the attention, but she had quickly warmed to her little cousin and was almost as enraptured with him as his proud parents.

Scott had not been able to shut up about his son’s milestones ever since they had brought him home from the hospital and even Melissa, who had quite literally not stopped grinning ever since the boy’s birth had had to put a stop to the constant tales of fatherly pride, when Scott had decided to describe the consistency and color of his son’s bowel movements in detail over dinner one night.

“Looking at the four of them, I can’t really tell who is the most in love with Mikey – Jackson, my husband, or your daughter,” Allison mused and Derek laughed.

“It’s a tough call,” he agreed, his smile widening when he saw Leonie tickle the baby’s tiny feet.

At four months old Michael Christopher McCall was a rather tall baby, much taller than Leonie had been at his age, and Scott and Stiles were constantly comparing notes on whose baby was/had been developing faster.

Derek thought it was a little ridiculous and he had told his mate so, refusing to listen to Stiles’ indignant grumbling about how it was perfectly ok for a little girl to be a little smaller than a boy.

He had also laughed out loud at the grimace on Stiles’ face when he had realized that his new godson’s name could be shorted to MC McCall.

“He has his disc-jockey career and mocking during school laid out for him already! Also, your first and last name should not be an alliteration,” Stiles had lamented and Derek had shaken his head.

“Says the man who won’t stop suggesting Jacob John for a boy’s name,” he had replied and Stiles had shrugged.

“It is perfectly alright to have an alliteration for a first and middle name,” he had defended himself and Derek had sighed.

“In other words, we can never name our future son Hubert?” he had asked and Stiles had almost choked on his coffee.

“ _You_ are criticizing _me_ for my name-choices and you want to name our poor son Hubert?” he had exclaimed and Leonie, who had followed the conversation with interest from her high chair, had started clapping her hands and chanting “Hubie!” enthusiastically.

“No Leo-Pie, not Hubie, you’re going to have a brother named Jacob John and besides, Hubie was the nickname of that Satanist-Vampire worshipper Hubert Marsten in Stephen King’s _Salem’s Lot_ ,” Stiles had corrected her and Derek had sighed.

“Stiles, she doesn’t know what a vampire is.”

“All she needs to know is her brother is not going to be named Hubert, but Jacob John. Leo-Pie, who’s your brother going to be?”

“Hubie!” Leonie had declared loudly, giggling so hard that her mashed peas were landing everywhere but inside her mouth, including Derek’s hair.

“I’m starting to hope we never have a son, between you calling him Jacob-John just so he can be nicknamed Jay Jay and his big sister calling him Hubie, that kid is definitely going to need therapy,” Derek had grumbled and Stiles had clapped him on the back.

“Hubie is _your_ fault Derek my love, I’m not taking the fall for this.”

Derek’s thoughts were jolted back to the present when Stiles suddenly wrapped himself around him and smacked a loud kiss on his cheek.

“I think Leo-Pie and Mikey are going to get married,” he sing-songed into Derek’s ear and Allison laughed.

“She has almost three years on him, by the time he is emotionally mature enough for her she’ll have run off with a dashing older man,” she prophesized, grinning widely when both Derek and Stiles looked at her in horror.

“You are hereby banned from giving my daughter advice on her love-life for all eternity,” Stiles proclaimed and Derek nodded enthusiastically.

Any remark Allison could have made in her defense was interrupted when the Sheriff clapped his hands loudly, gesturing at the birthday cake.

“Not that I want to interrupt everyone’s conversation, but I think my granddaughter would really like some birthday cake before dinner,” he said, grinning smugly when Leonie jumped off of Scott’s lap and ran up to her grandfather, who picked her up with ease and swung her around once before turning towards her fathers.

“I think her _grandfather_ wants some birthday cake, that’s what _I_ think,” Stiles grumbled, but he was already grabbing his camera from the porch.

Without being prompted Boyd walked over to relieve Derek at the grill, allowing the fathers to join their daughter and her cake-loving grandfather at the table. After Stiles had lit the three candles the Sheriff adjusted his hold on Leonie so she could blow them out and whispered, “Make a wish,” into her ear.

Derek smiled proudly when Leonie actually managed to blow out all candles with one try – of course Stiles had stacked them pretty close together to begin with – and he reached over to take Leonie from his father-in-law, peppering her cheeks with kisses and beaming at her.

“What did you wish for Leo-Pie?” he asked her and Leonie cocked her head with a big grin.

“I want a doggie, a princess-wedding, and a baby-brother!” she declared loudly.

“Do you want them in that order Honey-Pie and who is supposed to be the princess?” Peter asked, grinning at the flustered-looking parents.

“ _I’m_ princess, Uncle Jackson says so,” Leonie answered, rolling her eyes in a way that was so Derek that everyone chuckled.

“Who do you want to marry? Mikey?” Cora asked, and Leonie looked as scandalized as only a three-year old could.

“No! Mikey is a baby! Daddy and Papa get married!” Leonie argued and Derek ruffled her hair affectionately.

“Leonie, Daddy and I are married already,” he explained gently but Leonie shook her head.

“No! No wedding pictures. Scott and Ally have pictures. We don’t!” she argued and the Sheriff coughed.

“Now I wonder why that is,” he mused, his tone suggesting that he still hadn’t forgotten his son and Derek for keeping their mating a secret from him for two years, although it had not been on purpose.

Leonie’s expression had turned indignant and Stiles hurried to appease the birthday girl.

“Leo-Pie, we can play wedding tomorrow if you want to,” he suggested but his daughter wasn’t having it, the look on her face suggesting that if she had been standing on the ground, she would have started stomping her feet.

“No! No playing! A princess wedding! Like in _Cinderella_!”

Derek gave Stiles an accusatory glare, mouthing “You _had_ to watch Disney with her,” under his breath.

Stiles ignored him and stepped closer, tickling their daughter’s chin to make her look at him.

“Leonie, Papa and I can of course have a princess wedding if you want to. But we are not getting a doggie and I can’t promise you a baby-brother. You’ve got your cousin Mikey now, right?” he said gently and Leonie wiggled in Derek’s arms until he sat her on the ground.

“Mikey is a cousin! I want a brother!” she said with finality, and Stiles crouched down to her level.

“Baby, it doesn’t work that way,” he said, raising his eyebrows when his daughter crossed her arms in a perfect imitation of her Auntie Lydia.

“Yes it does Daddy! Scott and Ally worked it,” she sniffled and Stiles sighed deeply.

“Alright baby, we can get you a little brother. Don’t be upset, ok?” he said quickly, not wanting the birthday girl to break out into tears before she had even had one slice of birthday cake.

As if he had read his thoughts Derek crouched down next to him, holding a piece with a huge glob of frosting in front of her.

“Do you want some birthday cake Leonie?” he asked and Leonie took the offered cake with a dramatic little huff.

Stiles ignored the amused glances of the pack when he straightened back up and he definitely ignored Derek’s curious and rather un-amused glances for the rest of the night.

His mate, however, didn’t bring it up until their guests had left and Leonie was sleeping in her bedroom.

Stiles was sitting in the living room and sipping a glass of white wine when Derek came back down, sinking down into the cushions with a sigh and inhaling deeply before he turned to the younger man.

“So, Stiles,” he began, sounding like he wasn’t a hundred percent decided yet on whether he wanted to be amused or upset.

“I know our daughter’s big, sad, werewolf tears are your kryptonite, but those were some big promises you made to her today. Care to talk about that?”

Stiles winced. “Yeah, about that,” he began, flailing his arms apologetically.

“I’m sorry, I just panicked. Hold on, which one are you more upset about?” he asked and Derek rubbed his eyes.

“Why would you feel we needed to get married even though we essentially are already? I assume you do, because otherwise you wouldn’t have caved so easily on that issue,” he said and Stiles nudged his shoulder carefully.

“Of course we are Sour Wolf, no one doubts that. But our daughter does have a point; we never did have a ceremony for our family. My dad is still a little grumpy about that and when she said it I just kind of figured that you know, maybe we could do that. It wouldn’t have to be a big thing, or a Disney princess wedding, but I’m sure she’d be happy with a little ceremony as long as we buy her some overpriced princess dress from the Disney store,” he said, watching his mate’s expression carefully.

“I guess we could,” Derek said slowly, looking deep in thought.

“I honestly don’t see the point, but I guess it would make our daughter, your father, Melissa, _and_ Lydia very happy. And considering what happened at the last pack wedding …” he trailed off, his hand moving unconsciously to his stomach.

Stiles smiled softly and reached over to join Derek’s hand over his abdomen.

They could not be a hundred percent sure of course, but both Derek and him were very confident that they had indeed conceived Leonie after they had gotten home from Allison and Scott’s wedding almost four years ago.

“Which brings me to another question …” Derek continued, his eyes locked on their joined hands.

“A little brother, hmm?”

Stiles’ fingers were tracing small circles around Derek’s navel when he snuggled into him.

“I know you said you wanted to wait four years after Leonie was born, but she’s been asking me for a sibling ever since Mikey was born and I just think we’re ready to have a second child. Of course only if you say you are ready, too, we can wait another year,” he added hastily and Derek put his other hand over Stiles’ fingers to still them.

“If I remember correctly, I went from Leonie being an only child to promising her not one but multiple sisters just so you couldn’t name one of them Jacob John within the span of a couple of minutes,” he said and Stiles laughed softly.

“That’s right, I remember that. What’s your opinion on that now though? We always said we wanted another child, right?” he asked and Derek nodded.

“Of course we do. I loved having siblings; I want her to have at least one sibling as well. It’s just … you know it took us almost one and a half years to conceive her, there’s no telling how long it will take this time and you made it sound like she could expect a brother in the mail tomorrow. Also, you know as well as I do that there’s a chance the brother could turn out to be a sister,” he said and Stiles shrugged.

“If it does turn out to be a sister, she always has Mikey. I really don’t think she’ll care one way or the other,” he smiled and Derek shook his head.

“We’ve been talking about her little brother who may or may not be named Jacob John ever since she was born, I’m pretty sure she has accepted that as a solid fact at this point,” he said.

Stiles grinned. “If I recall correctly she wants to have a little brother named Hubie,” he said and Derek winced.

“Yeah … that was my fault.”

“I’m glad we agree,” Stiles smiled playfully, his fingers going back to tracing Derek’s muscular stomach.

With the exception of his slightly wider hips – a fact that Stiles still refused to admit he had noticed – Derek looked as if he had never given birth, his stomach as flat and muscular as before the pregnancy.

His breasts had gradually begun to shrink when Leonie had been six months old and Derek had taken that as a sign to start weaning her. He had been both relieved and a bit sad when he had woken up one morning to find his chest completely returned to normal, roughly nine months after he had given birth. It wasn’t that he missed the breasts per se, but he did miss the bonding time with Leonie, even though her growing teeth had made it a somewhat painful experience towards the end.

He touched his chest with a slight frown and Stiles looked at him fondly.

“Are you ready to go through all these physical changes again? All the aches, the nausea, and the hormones?” he asked and Derek rolled his eyes.

“Tell me more baby, you are _really_ getting me in the mood,” he said dryly and Stiles laughed.

“Don’t I always?” he grinned, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“Of course,” Derek answered, sounding the opposite of sincere.

He shook his head with a small smile. “I can’t say I’m looking forward to the nausea and the aches, but yes, I do think we are ready to start trying for another baby. My body might have to get used to the idea first to be able to conceive so it might take even longer than last time, when we started trying with me already in the right physical state but yes, we should start trying. If you want to?”

Stiles pulled his mate into a passionate kiss, smiling against his lips when he whispered, “Of course I do!”

He straddled Derek’s hips and rocked into him, capturing his mouth in another deep kiss. “Let’s convince your wolf it’s about time we have another baby!” he breathed and Derek growled before standing up, Stiles’ legs hooked around his waist and the younger man’s arms draped behind his neck.

Stiles kept nuzzling Derek’s neck as he carried him up the stairs and into their bedroom, alternating between little playful nips and small licks and he laughed when Derek unceremoniously dropped him onto the covers and removed his pants with a quick pull.

Derek’s clothes landed in a heap on the floor while Stiles removed his shirt and then his werewolf was on top of him, holding down his arms as he gently bit the younger man’s sensitive nipples, licking and teasing all the way down to Stiles’ happy trail, before he surged back up and captured Stiles’ mouth in an almost brutal kiss.

His erection was rubbing against Stiles’ and the human brought his hand down, his fingers teasing both of their heads to gather some of the precome before he wrapped his hand around their lengths and began stroking slowly.

Derek hissed and bucked into him, biting his lip so hard that he almost drew blood. He straightened up until he could crawl on all fours and maneuvered himself so his straining erection was poised directly over Stiles’ mouth, allowing the human to start preparing him while being able to give him a blowjob at the same time.

For all his complaints that he wasn’t able to multi-task Stiles managed both jobs to Derek’s full satisfaction, his nimble fingers now coated in the lube from their bedside table. Derek was holding onto the headboard to give himself better leverage and he groaned when Stiles grabbed his ass cheeks and pushed him deeper towards him, swallowing around his length while one long finger gently massaged his mate’s prostate.

“Enough, need you inside me, now!” Derek gasped finally, shaking when he pushed himself away from the headboard and onto his haunches and Stiles nodded, holding onto Derek’s hips as he pushed him farther down.

Derek grabbed Stiles’ erection in a firm grip and aligned himself before slowly pushing down until he was fully seated on Stiles, flexing his muscles experimentally before he rested his hands on Stiles’ chest and began to move, his fingers tweaking the younger man’s nipples.

Stiles snapped his hips up in return, groaning at the double stimuli. His hands reached out to grab Derek’s hips again, his thumbs pressing into his mate’s stomach and caressing the firm skin and Derek threw his head back, coming in thick spurts onto Stiles’ chest. Stiles arched his back when he felt his orgasm overtake him and Derek caught his lips in another kiss, panting into his mouth.

They collapsed on top of each other, each breathing heavily and finally Stiles poked his mate’s shoulder.

“Derek? If you don’t want to have to wax your chest hair I suggest rolling off of me before your come glues us together for all eternity,” he said and Derek huffed before rolling off of him.

“Your helpful commentary remains, as always, your sexiest attribute,” he deadpanned, reaching for a tissue and cleaning first himself and then Stiles’ chest.

Curious, Stiles propped himself up on his elbows and inspected Derek’s softening penis.

“So, no knot, right?” he said and Derek gave his member an experimental tug before wincing and shaking his head.

“No knot,” he confirmed, rolling unto his side and raising one eyebrow.

“As I said, it will take a while for my body to be ready,” he explained and Stiles stroked his shoulder.

“Don’t worry. We have all the time in the world.”

Derek shrugged.

“Oh I’m not worried at all. _You_ were the one who told our daughter she was getting a brother in the mail tomorrow.”

“I never said that,” Stiles disagreed, a sheepish smile on his face.

“That being said, I’m totally on ‘I want a sibling’-Temper Tantrum duty, right?”

Derek smiled contentedly.

“You are absolutely right.”

 

===============

 

_July 4 th, 2026_

If anyone were to ask Derek and Stiles whom their daughter took after, they would have been in full agreement on where she got her looks without hesitation. Although her grin was exactly like her human father’s, there was no denying that she was a Hale. She had Derek’s eyes, his hair, his complexion, and his bone structure, a fact that had led Stiles to mournfully declare he would probably go to prison for shooting an innocent cow after all, all in the pursuit of scaring their daughter’s numerous suitors away with his dad’s rifle.

As far as her personality went, however, opinions were divided among the pack. Leonie could have Derek’s quiet intensity but she also babbled a mile a minute, her eyes sparkling and waving her little arms excitedly, reminding everyone and their mother of Stiles. Her disposition was mostly happy but she did have a tendency to growl at her fathers when she was upset with them, a habit that Derek tried to stop and that Stiles found utterly adorable.

While Derek was still the person she tended to cling to when she was tired, unhappy, or feeling bad, Stiles excelled at playing with her, able to get much more excited about jumping into raked up leafs for hours at a time than Derek did. He was raising her to become a popular culture enthusiast and Derek let him, grateful that it wasn’t him who had been forced to watch _Frozen_ approximately fifty million times.

So far, they had only run into one thing that Leonie definitely wasn’t getting as enthusiastic about as her daddy – fireworks. She had been too young to fully realize what was happening around her on her first July 4th and the year after Stiles had been extremely disappointed when their daughter had started crying when they had taken her out to watch.

When she had been two she had clung to Derek tightly, her face burrowed into his neck and only peeking out at the fireworks occasionally before quickly hiding again and Derek had tried to explain to Stiles that it was probably because the loud banging noises and the smell of the ashes was a little too much for her still developing werewolf senses.

This year, Stiles had not even bought fireworks and they had all decided to have their Independence Day get-together at Melissa’s house. When it was time to light the fireworks, Derek had taken Leonie inside and walked up to the guest bedroom, which currently doubled as a nursery for when Michael came to visit his grandmother. Leonie was nervous and Derek decided to try his old calming-technique, lying down on the bed and draping her over his chest so she could hear his heartbeat.

He wasn’t sure if it would still work but Leonie relaxed visibly, snuggling into her father and pressing her nose into his shirt while sucking on her thumb. Derek thought about removing her thumb from her mouth – he was a little paranoid that it would mess with her teeth at this age, werewolf healing or not – but he decided to let her for tonight, aware that it would calm her down even more.

He was stroking her back in soothing, circular motions and when he looked down next Leonie was fast asleep, curled up on his stomach in a fetal position. Derek chuckled quietly, careful not to wake her. If that image wasn’t enough to get his wolf into full-on breeding mode he wasn’t sure what would work more effectively.

He listened to his daughter’s calm breathing and decided to rest his eyes for a moment, opening them again when he heard Stiles tiptoe into the room.

“Are the fireworks over?” he yawned and Stiles laughed quietly before he stripped off his shoes and crawled onto the bed next to him.

“The fireworks _and_ the party oh beloved Sleepy Wolf,” he smiled, snuggling into Derek’s side and putting one hand on his chest, just above their daughter’s head.

“Your child has a very calming presence,” Derek said sheepishly and Stiles grinned.

“She does have her moments I guess,” he agreed, dropping a light kiss on her forehead.

“I asked Melissa if we could sleep here tonight and she said it wasn’t a problem,” he continued, stretching out next to Derek like a cat.

“Of course Leonie is probably going to be awake at four so we won’t get much rest, but at least we don’t have to wake her up now,” he mused and Derek nodded.

“Do you want me to lift her up so you can go to the bathroom or something?” Stiles asked and his mate shook his head.

“I’m fine for now, let her sleep,” he whispered and Stiles nodded.

“Whatever you say Sappy Wolf.”

 

================

 

_Monday, August 3 rd, 2026_

Technically, Leonie’s first day at preschool was _her_ milestone, but Stiles secretly wondered if it wasn’t actually his and Derek’s milestone when they dropped her off for her first day on the 3rd of August.

“Do you remember what we talked about Cherry Pie?” Derek asked when they pulled into the parking lot and Leonie gave her father her best serious face.

“No glowy eyes and now growling,” she repeated. Derek nodded.

“That’s really important baby, people will get scared if you do,” he said and Stiles, who had taken the day off for the occasion, reached behind him to tickle her leg.

“And don’t hit people, even if they are stupid and deserve it. You are a little stronger than the boys at school,” he added and Derek gave him a stern look.

“She is going to waltz in there and tell people they are stupid,” he mouthed and Stiles shrugged, obviously not concerned about such trivial matters.

“I really don’t want to let her go!” Stiles lamented when they drove away from the parking lot fifteen minutes later, sounding suspiciously close to crying.

“Don’t be so dramatic, we’re picking her up again in three hours since it’s the first day,” Derek argued and Stiles clutched at his heart dramatically.

“Three hours without my baby will seem like days!” he cried and Derek snorted.

“If anyone should have a breakdown here, it should be me, shouldn’t it? I’m the one who spends almost the entire day with her because I work from home, you are used to not seeing her for nine hours at a time,” he muttered and Stiles sniffled again.

“Our baby is growing up! She didn’t even seem upset when she had to say goodbye to us,” he whined and Derek sighed.

“That’s because we told her we would pick her up in three hours. She’s fine, I promise,” he argued and Stiles shook his head.

“She is three, she doesn’t understand what three hours mean. I swear to you, she is growing up too quickly. We need to make a baby that won’t want to leave the nest for at least another three years,” he declared and Derek laughed.

“Subtle, really subtle. Would you like me to pull over right now, so you can have your wicked way with me on the backseat?”

He regretted it even as he said it, when Stiles inhaled sharply and whipped his head around.

“Many a high school girl got pregnant on the backseat of a car,” he mused and Derek growled.

“I’m not a girl and I’m most definitely not in High School anymore. Also, I’m no longer in the mood,” he grumbled and Stiles sniffed.

“Doesn’t matter anyhow, I was just abandoned by my three year old, I will never feel happy again,” he prophesized darkly and Derek rolled his eyes at his mate’s antics.

He had to suppress a smug smile when Leonie all but jumped into Stiles’ arms when they picked her up from her first day three hours later, her cheeks glowing with excitement as she tried to explain everything that she had seen, heard, and learned in school without even taking one breath.

She barely talked about anything else for the rest of the day and only quieted down after supper, when it was time for her bedtime story. Stiles had to work on some slides for a presentation later that week and so Derek took over, settling himself on the edge of her “I’m a big girl now”-bed that she had gotten for her birthday.

“Do you want me to read anything special?” he asked and Leonie shook her head in contemplation.

“Tell me a story, Papa,” she replied, climbing onto his lap and snuggling into his chest.

Making up stories was usually Stiles’ forte and Derek tried to remember bedtime stories that his mother had used to tell him when he was little.

“There once was a little wolf,” he began, lying down flat on his back to get into a more comfortable sleeping position for his daughter.

Leonie did not even make it past the little wolf’s breakfast with his crazy uncle, too exhausted from her first day at preschool and when Derek tried to lift her off of him she grabbed his shirt and held on tightly, growling softly in her sleep.

Shrugging, Derek decided to wait until she was in a deeper sleep to move her and he rubbed his eyes in surprise when Stiles shook him awake two hours later.

“I was seriously impressed by your bedtime story telling powers until I came in here and you two were snoring in synch,” he whispered and Derek yawned softly.

“I don’t snore,” he whispered back, indicating to Stiles that he should lift their daughter off his stomach so he could get up.

This time, Leonie did not put up a fight and once she was tucked into her blankets she continued sleeping peacefully.

“Well it was either you or our daughter, Snore Wolf,” Stiles commented when they were lying in their own bed, “and I hope for all of her future sleepover friends that it was you.”

“I’m not a Snore Wolf,” Derek argued back and Stiles snuggled into his side with a grin.

“That’s true, so what’s up. Can werewolves get colds after all?”

Derek shook his head. “Not really. There are some diseases we actually aren’t immune to, but these are either supernatural in nature or really rare. But we actually do get sick during childhood a couple of times,” he remembered and Stiles sighed.

“Now you’re telling me, on the day when we first introduced our daughter to a bunch of snot-nosed germ-carrying little brats?” he asked accusatorily and Derek shrugged.

“It’s not like she’s going to get the chicken-pox tomorrow, but it is actually good for a born werewolf to be sick once or twice during childhood, it really kicks our heightened immune system into gear,” he explained.

Stiles gave him a fond smile. “So once upon a time you were a whining little Derek with a runny nose and a bowl of chicken soup?” he asked and Derek snorted.

“I hate chicken soup, but I do remember at least one cold, that’s true,” he said, closing his eyes and indicating that he wanted to sleep.

“Well, I hope it will take a while until she gets her first cold, I don’t think I’m prepared for that yet,” Stiles said, before falling asleep as well.

 

=================

 

_August 7 th, 2026_

It was not – it turned out – a cold that first introduced their baby to the concept of disease, but a nasty stomach bug, and it happened at the end of her first week at preschool.

On Friday morning around five Derek woke up to the sound of whimpering and he immediately got up, cursing under his breath when he stubbed his toe on some forgotten toy in the hallway. When he walked into their daughter’s bedroom she had kicked all the blankets off the bed and was curled on her side, her forehead sweaty and her normally tanned skin pale.

“What’s wrong Pie?” Derek asked, checking her forehead for signs of fever and Leonie lifted her arms, demanding to be picked up. She continued whimpering when Derek sat down on the bed and sat her on his lap, rocking her in his arms as if she was still a baby.

“Tummy achy, Papa,” Leonie sniffled and on reflex Derek stroked her little tummy to leach some of the pain away, alarmed when there was no sign of his veins turning black.

“Did you eat something weird at school?” he asked, his concern growing when Leonie pressed her face into his chest and whimpered louder, shaking her head.

He was pretty sure it was probably a stomach bug, remembering that he himself had had at least one of those when he was in Kindergarten, but he was at a loss when he tried to remember what his mother had done to fix it.

Derek was debating whether he should call Deaton or Melissa when Leonie suddenly stiffened in his arms and before he could react she had already thrown up all over him and her bed. He barely had time to lament the fact that he was now covered in vomit when Leonie started crying in earnest, clearly afraid of the situation.

Of course she had spit up every now and then when she had been a baby, but this was the first time she had actually vomited and Derek tugged of his shirt quickly so he could comfort her without squishing her in vomit, getting up and carrying her towards the bathroom.

“Shhh, baby, it’s ok, you’ll feel better soon, I promise. It’s just a bug,” he said quickly, sitting down on the ledge of the bathtub.

“A bug? There’s a bug in my tummy? I don’t want a bug in my tummy!” Leonie looked terrified and Derek winced, suddenly remembering that all she had been talking about yesterday were the pictures of the ladybugs she had colored in school.

“No baby, you’re just a little sick, like Daddy sometimes gets, you remember? But you will feel better really quickly, because you’re a werewolf like Papa, alright?” he soothed her, wincing in sympathy when she pushed her hands into her abdomen.

“Hurts, Papa,” she cried and Derek kissed her sweaty forehead, this time able to react when he could feel her tense in his arms and able to hold her over the toilet just in time before she threw up again.

A door suddenly banged open in the house and Derek sighed, rubbing their daughter’s back soothingly and waiting for Stiles to barge into the bathroom in a panic.

He was not disappointed and if Leonie hadn’t chosen that exact moment to let out a particularly pitiful whimper, he would have probably laughed at the way Stiles’ hair was sticking out in every possible direction.

“Why is my baby crying? Why do you have vomit on your shorts? Why is Leo-Pie throwing up? Oh my god Derek, did she get into the wolfsbane? I _told_ you we shouldn’t have that in the house!” Stiles’ voice rose with each question and the last came out in a terrified squeak.

It did nothing to calm Leonie and Derek sat her back on his lap, rubbing her tummy to try and make her feel better.

“I think there’s probably a stomach bug going around in her school. It’s normal vomit, nothing black. She’ll be fine, I had one or two of those when I was a little boy, it’s completely normal for her to go through this at least once,” he explained and Stiles crouched down next to them, looking just as distressed as their whimpering daughter.

“Should we call Melissa?” he asked and Derek shrugged.

“Don’t you remember what to do in these types of situations?” he asked and Stiles scratched his head.

“Lots of rest and fluids? But there must be _something_ else we can do,” he argued and Derek sighed, knowing that his mate would not rest until he had researched every possible solution.

“Alright, call Melissa. And please change her bed, she threw up all over me and the bedding and I don’t want her to have to lie back down into vomit.”

Leonie, as it turned out, had absolutely no desire to lie back down in her own bed, even after Stiles had changed the bedding, clinging to Derek and sobbing hysterically and Derek finally relented and carried her over to his and Stiles’ room.

He was changing the bedding of their bed three hours later, not having reacted fast enough to avoid being thrown up on again, when Stiles peaked his head inside the door, already dressed for work.

“I called the school to tell them she wouldn’t be coming in and I was informed that apparently half of her classmates are home sick because some kid brought in some weird stomach bug from a cruise ship to the Caribbean or something,” he muttered darkly, clearly already plotting retribution on the poor child.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay home today?” he continued, looking a little guilty when Derek stripped off the second shirt of the day to throw into the washer.

“Don’t be ridiculous, your presentation is important and I’ve got this. We’ll be fine,” he said firmly and Stiles sighed before he tiptoed over to Leonie, who was curled up on his side of the bed.

“Feel better soon Leo-Pie,” he whispered and kissed her hair softly.

“You’ll get yourself sick if you aren’t careful,” Derek warned and Stiles snorted.

“It’s a kid’s bug, I’ll be fine,” he argued, walking over to Derek and giving him a quick kiss before he had to leave for work.

“Wanna bet?” Derek mumbled when he heard the car leave.

Seven hours, two sets of PJs, another set of bedding, and one more shirt in the washer later, Leonie was sleeping on her papa’s lap when her daddy stumbled into their bedroom. Derek had gotten no work done today but he had managed to coax her into drinking two cups of tea an hour ago and so far they had stayed down.

He was about to tell Stiles to be silent when he got a good look at his mate’s pale, sweaty face and his pained grimace as he clutched at his stomach.

“I’m glad you are fine,” he muttered softly, shaking his head when Stiles dropped down onto the mattress with a pained groan.

“I’m going to _hurt_ that kid. No wait, I’m going to hurt the _parents_ because they took their three-year old on a germ infested cruise ship. This is the most mortifying day of my _life_ ,” he groaned and Derek reached over a hand to feel his forehead.

“The presentation?” he guessed and Stiles nodded.

“Stupid bug declared war on me and attacked right in the middle of it, without warning I might add. I barely made it to the trashcan in the conference room. It was a disaster,” he moaned.

“I’m not going to say I told you so, but …”

“You told me so?” Stiles finished weakly, moaning when his stomach lurched again.

Derek gently lifted Leonie off of his lap and tucked her into the blankets next to him, allowing him to scoot closer to Stiles. Stiles pushed himself upwards with some difficulty and let himself fall back against Derek’s chest, groaning when his stomach protested against the movement.

“I’m going to assume we don’t need an ultrasound to diagnose your stomach bug this time?” Derek asked with a soft smile, his hand already rubbing soothing circles into Stiles’ stomach.

“Have a completely justified freak-out once and no one will ever let you forget it,” Stiles groaned, closing his eyes and relaxing against Derek’s shoulder.

“How’s Leo-Pie?” he asked after a while and Derek sighed.

“I think it’s one of these 24-hour bugs. She hasn’t thrown up in three hours and I got her to drink something. She’s been sleeping for over an hour so I hope she’s getting better,” he said.

Not surprisingly, their daughter chose that exact moment to lift her head and throw up all over Derek’s lap again.

It was, Derek decided, karmic retribution when the sight triggered her daddy to throw up all over him as well.

“You realize you are never allowed to make fun of me because of the Renesmee-thing ever again, right?” he said after they had all changed into fresh PJs and Derek had stripped off the bed for the third time that day.

“I’ll have to live with it,” Stiles mumbled into his pillow.

Stiles got up to throw up one more time during the night but Leonie seemed to have gotten over the worst and when she no longer smelled as sick around 2 AM Derek finally allowed himself to fall asleep, exhausted from a full day of worrying.

His sleep was cut short four hours later, when he barely made it to the bathroom before throwing up himself.

“We’re going to _kill_ those parents,” he groaned when Stiles peaked his head inside the bathroom, still looking a little pale and dark circles under his eyes.

“Should we be worried? Having a werewolf kid with a not yet fully developed immune system catch a stomach bug is one thing, but a fully grown Alpha werewolf as well?” he asked and Derek sighed, before pushing himself up shakily.

“Who knows what kind of supernatural bugs they have in the Caribbean, besides, I’ve been thrown up on so often within the past 24 hours, it was about time I started throwing up with you guys in sympathy. I’ll be fine,” he assured his mate, sighing when his stomach rolled again.

“I’ll just … stay in here for a little bit I think,” he got out before scrambling from the lid and throwing up again.

Derek spent the rest of the day outside, the fresh air helping him with the nausea and Stiles, who was feeling much better today took care of their daughter, who, although still a little exhausted, seemed to be back to normal.

On Sunday, Derek woke up feeling much better and, deciding that it had indeed been a really strange werewolf-affecting 24 hour bug, he enlisted Stiles and Leonie’s help to disinfect the house, not wanting the baby to get sick when Scott and Allison brought him over for a visit next.

Leonie of course wasn’t much help but between Stiles and himself they got done fairly quickly and the rest of the afternoon was spent lounging on the couch and watching Disney movies, each of them sipping on tea and some bland crackers.

 

================

 

_August 22 nd, 2026_

Derek had all but forgotten about the episode until two weeks later, the day of Erica and Boyd’s wedding. Stiles had gotten up before him and he was currently busy arguing about outfits with Leonie since their three year old was absolutely refusing to wear the nice little blue dress they had bought her for the occasion.

“No! Leonie Talia Claudia Hale, you absolutely can’t go to Auntie Erica and Uncle Boyd’s wedding dressed as Peter Pan,” Stiles exclaimed and Derek winced when their daughter began squealing in protest.

He felt a little tense when he stepped under the shower and sighed softly when the warm water ran down his body, relaxing his protesting muscles.

He still felt a little strange when he stepped out of the shower and toweled himself dry, but it wasn’t until he started getting dressed that he began to realize why he felt so weird.

“Uhm, Stiles?” he called out with a frown, tugging at his pants when Stiles popped his head into the bedroom with a frustrated expression.

“What Derek? Do you want to go to the wedding dressed as Tinker Bell? You could, you know, because I swear I’m about to give up, your child is too stubborn for her own good,” he huffed.

Derek looked at him in consternation.

“I might have to, did you shrink our laundry by chance?” He turned around so Stiles could inspect the situation, trying once again to suck in his stomach so he could get the button of his suit pants closed and failing spectacularly.

“Why am I always the one being accused of harming our laundry, you are the one who turned all of our underwear pink when you washed Leo-Pie’s bedding with our whites that one time,” Stiles grumbled, moving closer so he could take a better look.

“I’m not trying to be rude or anything Derek my love,” he began carefully, his hands hovering over Derek’s navel but obviously afraid to touch, “but I don’t think it’s the pants that shrunk … it looks more like you might have gained a teensy tiny bit of weight, maybe?” he trailed off, lifting up his hands in apology.

Derek sighed deeply and pushed his pants down a little to get a better look. He was certain that bulge had not been there when he had gone to bed yesterday and he couldn’t for the life of him remember having eaten anything that could have left him so bloated. He gently pushed one of his fingers in but there was almost no give, the protrusion surprisingly solid for a little bit of extra-pudge.

“I think I did …” he said incredulously and Stiles smiled affectionately.

“It’s only fair, I was getting tired of having to be the only one around here who actually has to watch what he eats,” he teased, stepping behind Derek and wrapping him up in an embrace, his hand moving down to gently caress the bulge.

“You know what this reminds me of Derek? You look and feel almost exactly like you did when you were almost five months pregnant with Leo-Pie,” he said, his hands suddenly stilling on Derek’s belly when Derek inhaled sharply.

“No way!” Stiles exclaimed, hastily stepping around Derek and dropping down so he was level with his mate’s stomach.

“You haven’t even produced a knot yet, how is this even possible?” he asked in awe and Derek shook his head in confusion.

“It shouldn’t be possible, unless …” his eyebrows rose almost up to his hairline.

“… unless your body immediately jumped into action when we first talked about it. You know, I’ve read that young girls can actually get pregnant in the month before their body gets ready to have their first period … maybe that’s what happened here?” Stiles finished and Derek uttered a shaky laugh.

“What was that movie we watched the other day? _Tangled_? Leonie is going to be locked in a castle all throughout her teenage years,” he decided, his hands joining Stiles’ on his belly.

“Do you … feel pregnant?” Stiles asked and Derek concentrated.

“I don’t know? I have felt weirdly achy lately, and of course there was that throwing up during the stomach bug episode, but other than that not really? I haven’t felt nauseous at all since and if we really conceived on Leonie’s birthday, I’d be at least seven weeks pregnant. I should be glued to the toilet-bowl by now. Maybe I’ve been a bit more sleepy these past few weeks?” he mused and Stiles nodded.

“I’ve called you Sleepy Wolf at least ten times in the past two weeks alone, I can vouch for that,” he said, excitement slowly creeping into his voice.

“Do we still have one of these pregnancy tests lying around somewhere?” Derek asked and Stiles shook his head.

“I don’t think so. Maybe we can pick one up on the way to the wedding?” he asked and Derek groaned.

“The wedding! Stiles, what am I supposed to wear, I can’t even pin those pants with my stomach sticking out like this, not to mention that my dress shirts are all tailored!”

“Well,” Stiles sighed, a look of resignation passing over his face. “Your daughter is hell-bent on dressing up as Peter Pan for the wedding - this is your uncle’s fault, I tell you – and I guess you and me could go as Lost Boys? I’m sure we still have those bear costumes lying around somewhere from last Halloween, you know, when we dressed up as Goldilocks and the Two Bears? Aren’t these kids dressed in some furry costumes in the Disney movie?” he suggested and Derek dropped down onto the bed with a deep sigh.

“Erica and Boyd will _kill_ me, right before they defect to Scott. Who wants to be Beta to an Alpha who dresses up as a _were-bear_ for their wedding, of all things?! Oh my god, that even rhymes! It’s official, I’m the worst Alpha in the history of werewolf-kind!” he exclaimed and Stiles grinned sheepishly.

“Look at it from the bright side Derek, our daughter will believe you hung the moon,” he smiled and Derek gently placed his palm on his stomach.

“Well baby, you and your big sister already have one thing in common – forcing your Papa into mortifying wardrobe fails in public.”

 

==================

 

_The Wedding_

They had picked up a pregnancy test and a gallon of orange juice at the drugstore on their way to the wedding – Derek had insisted on wearing sunglasses, arguing that he did not want to be recognized as the man who had bought a pregnancy test and a gallon of orange juice dressed in a bear costume for the rest of eternity – and by the time they got to the beach house that Lydia had graciously donated for the day Derek really needed to pee, which was an unfortunate sensation when one was dressed in an one-piece bear costume.

“Hey Derek, Erica wants you to come talk to her for a second, she’s in …” Lydia, who was playing hostess on the front porch trailed off, a scandalized look plastered on her face.

“What in the world!” she breathed when she took in the grinning Peter Pan with pigtails who was riding on Stiles’ plushy shoulders and pulling at his bear ears and Derek, who was sweating and certain that he probably really looked like he desperately wanted to pee.

“I’m not even going to ask, nope, not even asking, but know that on behalf of Erica and every young bride on the planet I will _never_ forgive you for this,” Lydia hissed, jerking her thumb in the direction of the upstairs bedroom when Derek rushed past her.

“Papa, want to see Erica, too!” Leonie yelled and trailed after him, hopping up the stairs taking two steps at a time in an attempt to fly.

“Really Stiles, _really_?” Derek could hear Lydia when she dragged Stiles outside to have him join the rest of Boyd’s groomsmen, tsking so loudly that Derek could hear it all the way up to the second floor of the house.

He hesitantly knocked at the door, wincing when Leonie yelled “Ericaaa” at the top of her lungs and the door swung open to reveal the uncharacteristically nervous bride.

“Derek, thank _god_ you are here, my father broke his leg yesterday and he won’t be able to walk me to down the aisle and I was going to ask you if …” like Lydia, Erica trailed off, her nervous expression replaced with shock.

“What the … Derek? What _is_ this!?” she exhaled, tugging him inside and closing the door firmly behind him.

“Why are you dressed as a bear? Why is my Alpha dressed as a bear at my wedding? This is a disaster!” she wailed, and Leonie, who was still hopping up and down in an imitation of flying looked at her with a confused frown.

“Don’t be sad Auntie Erica, it’s wedding day!” she tried to comfort her aunt, and Erica leaned back against the doorframe.

“If I wasn’t a werewolf I think I’d faint right now! Derek, I was going to ask you if you could walk me down the aisle instead of my father, who is currently seated in the front row and grumbling about his skin itching under his cast, but I can’t be walked down the aisle by a _teddy bear_ , this is not happening!”

The look she threw him screamed of betrayal. “Is it because I jumped you and kissed you that one time? Is this payback? I swear, I didn’t know you already had the hots on Stiles,” she pleaded desperately and Leonie crossed her arms.

“No kissing! Only Daddy kisses Papa,” she declared, tugging at Erica’s dress with a frown.

“You’re not making it better Pie,” Derek muttered to her, barely controlling the urge to shift from one foot to the other in his desperation to empty his bladder.

“I’m sorry, Erica, I’m truly sorry but see, Leonie was determined to go to your wedding as Peter Pan and when I tried to put on my suit this morning I …”

“Papa’s too fat for his suit!” Leonie giggled and Derek blushed, hiding his face behind his furry paws in mortification.

“Thank you daughter,” he mumbled and Erica gave him a surprised look.

“ _You_ are too fat for your suit? What are you, pregnant or something?” she trailed off and bent down as far as her dress allowed her, taking a good sniff around his midsection.

“Oh my god, Derek, you smell just like when you carried Monkey-Pie … _are_ you pregnant?” she exclaimed excitedly, anxiety over the bear-costume seemingly forgotten when she pushed her hands into the furry belly of the costume.

Derek groaned.

“Don’t do that, I really need to pee, I was going to take a test and then Stiles forced me to drink half a gallon of orange juice and I …” he began and Erica jumped into action immediately.

“What are you waiting for, the bathroom’s over there, I’m not having you walk me down the aisle in a bear suit that has pee on it, as realistic though that may be. Come on, do it!” she said, shoving him into the direction of the bathroom.

Derek struggled out of the costume as quickly as possible, barely able to unwrap the pregnancy test before he had to relieve himself, sighing deeply when the pressure disappeared from his bladder.

“You really have no sense of modesty, do you?” he asked, not even turning around when he heard the bride and his daughter coming into the bathroom, setting the stick on the counter and adjusting his boxers before he flushed the toilet and turned around to wash his hands.

“Circle of life Derek, remember?” Erica grinned, her eyes roaming over his exposed midsection.

“Wow,” she breathed, not able to keep herself from splaying one hand over the bump. “It feels just like you did when you were six months pregnant with Leonie,” she marveled and Derek laughed.

“Thanks, Stiles at least had the decency to say I looked only five months pregnant,” he complained and Erica shrugged.

“I’m going to be walked down the aisle by a bear here in a bit, I can get away with anything today. Unless of course … you _are_ walking me down the aisle, right?”

Derek smiled.

“I might be a were-bear Fail-Wolf of an Alpha, but of course I am going to walk you down the aisle if you want me to.”

“Can I walk you, too?” Leonie asked, and Erica laughed, before reaching down and sitting the overeager Peter Pan on the counter.

“Of course Peter Pan can walk me down the aisle,” she agreed and Leonie beamed.

“Are you Wendy?” she asked excitedly and Erica chuckled, her little nervous breakdown completely forgotten.

“I’m not Wendy, I’m Tiger-Lily!” she said and Leonie clapped her hands.

“I’m glad we agree Monkey-Pie,” Erica smiled, before looking at the pregnancy test on the counter.

“Do you think three minutes are over already?” she asked excitedly and Derek shrugged.

“I think so,” he said, slowly reaching for the stick and holding it up so he could read it.

The look on his face was the only confirmation Erica needed before she squealed louder than humanly possible and wrapped him up in a bear hug, a pun that Stiles would have probably appreciated.

“Oh my god Derek, this is wonderful! Another Monkey-Pie! I’ll even forgive you for the bear costume, this is the best wedding present ever!” she beamed and Leonie scrambled over to them, looking at her father and grinning aunt in confusion.

“Another Monkey Pie? But I’m Monkey Pie?” she asked and Derek smiled brightly, before picking his daughter up from the counter and settling her on his hip.

“Do you feel this?” he asked, holding one of her tiny hands and gently placing it on his stomach.

“This is your little baby-brother or sister,” he said, still feeling a little overwhelmed at how quickly they had managed to conceive and wondering whether he would wake up at any moment.

“Baby-brother?!” Leonie squealed and she literally started jumping up and down on Derek’s hip.

“Brother! I’m getting a brother!” she yelled and Derek laughed, kissing her forehead and little nose.

“Or a sister,” he corrected her but Leonie shook her head so hard that the pigtails went flying and almost hit Derek in the face.

“No sister, I want a brother!” she declared and Derek shrugged.

“Daddy and I tried our very best,” he agreed and Erica grinned.

“I’m putting my bet down for Team Boy right now, I know I was wrong the last time, but with so much sisterly conviction there is no way this one’s going to be another girl,” she declared.

A knock at the door interrupted them and Lydia peaked her head inside the bathroom, her expression still thunderous.

“Oh great, now he’s half-naked. Erica, I hope you managed to talk some sense into him so he changes his clothes, there is no way I’ll be known as the wedding planner who let a bear walk the bride down the aisle and oh my god what’s that?!” Lydia’s rant was cut short when her gaze fell towards the curve of Derek’s belly, unmistakably pronounced.

“Well, remember how I had to wear Stiles’ stupid Christmas sweater when I ran out of clothes to wear when I was carrying Leonie? This baby just managed to top that,” Derek said and Lydia’s frown was replaced with a bright smile.

“I can’t believe it! This is amazing! And also, quite possibly, the _only_ justifiable excuse for me letting you walk the bride down the aisle in a bear-costume,” she said, giving Erica a critical once-over.

“It’s almost time, are you ready?” she asked and Erica exhaled shakily, her forgotten nerves reappearing with a vengeance.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” she replied bravely and Leonie reached over to pat her arm, still snuggled comfortable on her father’s hip.

“You are so pretty. Like a princess!” she encouraged and Erica smiled, before kissing the child’s forehead.

“Thank you Peter Pan,” she said softly.

“Shall we then?” Lydia asked and Erica smiled brightly.

“We shall … second to the right and then straight on till morning.”

 

================

 

Stiles’ father, Derek was pretty sure, was regretting all of his life choices and visibly wondering where he had failed Stiles as a parent when Derek, still dressed as a bear, walked Erica down the aisle, preceded by a beaming Peter Pan, who was throwing flowers not at the ground, but at the guests as she hopped down towards Boyd.

If it hadn’t been for the big grin on his adorable daughter’s face to soften the admittedly hard-to-swallow blow of two of the groomsmen in a bear costume, Derek was sure he would have been able to smell the judgment wafting from both Erica and Boyd’s families.

The Sheriff was hiding his face in his hands and shaking his head softly, muttering something that sounded like “Were-bears. It even rhymes!” and Melissa looked equally confused and scandalized as she bounced Mikey on her lap, watching him while his parents were serving as bridesmaid and groomsman.

True to his nature, Boyd was as calm as ever and completely unfazed by the bear walking his bride down the aisle, his gaze focused on Erica with warmth and love. It was the hormones, Derek decided, when he felt himself actually tearing up when he placed Erica’s hand in Boyd’s, trying not to think about the fact that he was doing it with a furry bear-paw.

Upon reaching the front Leonie had hopped over to Cora, whose eyebrows were climbing higher and higher when she frowned at her brother. Hoping that Leonie wasn’t about to share the big news and take the thunder away from Boyd and Erica, Derek held his paw up to his lips and made a soft “shh” sound at the little girl, smiling in relief when Leonie nodded, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

He walked over to stand next to Stiles, who, having observed the little exchange between his mate and daughter, was clearly already on the verge of crying.

“Really?” he mouthed and Derek nodded, his heart rejoicing when the hopeful look on his mate’s face was replaced with a blinding smile.

It was a beautiful ceremony, short and sweet, and when the guests started to mingle, Derek quietly asked Boyd if he could go inside and borrow some of his clothes, aware that his Beta could hear him. He ignored the confused looks on Isaac and Scott’s faces and quickly made his way inside. It was definitely too hot for a full-body bear costume and he wasn’t sure he had ever sweat this much in his life.

He was only clad in his boxer shorts when he searched through Boyd’s duffel bag and wasn’t surprised when two bear paws suddenly circled his waist and rested on his belly.

“Have I told you lately how much I love you,” Stiles asked and Derek smiled, his hands resting on Stiles’ paws.

“I’d believe you even more if you got out of this costume as well, I’m sweaty and hot enough as it is without being felt up by a man-sized teddy-bear,” Derek replied and Stiles chuckled, stripping down quickly and sighing in relief when the cool air hit his moist skin.

“This would have been an even better idea if they had gotten married in winter,” he mused and Derek grinned, turning around so he could kiss the younger man.

“I don’t think it would have made a difference in terms of being a good or bad idea,” he teased and Stiles laughed quietly, his hands softly stroking Derek’s belly.

“But we have the perfect reason,” he said, his eyes shining with love.

“Should we tell the pack? I don’t think our daughter can keep it a secret for much longer,” he said, and Derek looked concerned.

“Do you think she’ll tell everybody?” he asked and Stiles shook his head.

“Nah, I told her it was our secret for now and Lydia’s watching her to make sure she’s keeping quiet, but I think she considers it cruel and unusual punishment that she can’t tell her Uncle Scott and Uncle Jackson yet,” Stiles answered.

“They’ll be able to smell it as soon as I walk outside I’m sure,” Derek said, grinning when Stiles started nuzzling at his neck.

“We’re at a wedding,” he admonished his mate and Stiles shrugged.

“So what?” he asked and Derek moaned quietly when the man’s teeth nibbled at a particularly sensitive spot.

“Stiles … we can’t have sex at my Betas’ wedding, we’re already on probation for the bear costumes,” he protested, sighing softly when Stiles gently began rubbing his groin through his boxers.

“True as that may be,” Stiles whispered, trailing kisses down Derek’s chest and belly, “I just remembered why I was barely able to keep my hands off of you when you were carrying Leonie … you are so. unbelievably. gorgeous when you’re pregnant. I still can’t believe you’re mine,” he smiled against Derek’s skin, pleased to see that Derek’s erection had gone from slightly interested to very much interested in the proceedings.

“S’not fair to use my pregnancy hormones against me,” Derek mumbled, leaning his head back and closing his eyes when Stiles began to gently mouth at his penis through the boxer shorts.

“Need to take advantage of you still being small enough to fuck me then, I don’t think that’s going to last for much longer,” Stiles whispered, his hands reaching up to frame Derek’s belly.  

“Tell me more oh Master of all Compliments,” Derek huffed, the indignation of his words betrayed by the shudder that ran through him and Stiles grinned before he pulled Derek’s boxers down and gently sucked one ball into his mouth. One hand was still caressing his mate’s belly while the other came down and stroked his erection and Derek grabbed onto Stiles’ head, running his fingers through his hair and pulling him closer.

“Bed!” he rasped and Stiles uttered a small meep when he lifted the slightly smaller man up and all but threw him on the bed before pouncing on him, his hands running all over Stiles’ body as he nipped and licked at his nipples, his collarbone, and his hip bones.

“Careful, don’t hurt yourself,” Stiles gasped and Derek growled before he tugged Stiles’ boxers of, mouthing at the head of his penis and giving him one teasing lick before he grabbed the younger man’s hips and turned him around so he was on all fours.

“I’m fine,” he breathed, his eyes searching for anything that could serve as lube before he decided to just use a combination of spit and their precome, barely able to pace himself when he began to prepare his mate.

“You’re so eager,” Stiles laughed breathlessly, moaning when Derek trailed his tongue all the way down his spine and bit into his butt cheek with just a little hint of force.

He pushed his hips back and Derek slapped his rear lightly, muttering, “Says the impatient one,” under his breath while scissoring two fingers inside his mate.

“I’m not made of glass, come _on_ Derek,” Stiles moaned a couple of minutes later and Derek took a deep breath before entering him slowly; agonizingly slow in Stiles’ opinion. Which he decided to voice with harsh pants of “Come _on_!”

When Derek bottomed out Stiles could feel the solid curve of his mate’s belly pressing against his spine and he gently arched his back against it, moaning at the sensation.

“Can’t believe how big you are already, maybe it’s twins,” he breathed and Derek growled before picking up his pace, one hand holding on to Stiles’ hips and the other braced on his back to keep himself upright enough to avoid bumping his stomach into Stiles with every thrust.

“So. Fucking. Big!” Stiles exclaimed and if he hadn’t been busy getting his brains screwed out by his horny werewolf husband, he might have high-fived himself for the versatile meaning of the praise.

Derek’s interpretation of his words became unmistakably clear almost instantly when Stiles started to feel the distinctive burn of a penis swelling inside of him. He groaned and dropped down onto his elbows, resting his forehead on his hands and panting heavily and he almost came untouched when Derek threw his head back and whined loudly before coming. Familiar with the length of a knotting orgasm by now Stiles reached down towards his member with shaking fingers and tugged, once, twice, three times, only to be swatted away by Derek, who, albeit currently draped over his back like a sack of potatoes, was seemingly still able to move his fingers, and the combination of being pushed down by his heavier mate and the furious stroking finally pushed him over the edge.

“So … Sexy Wolf,” Stiles began when he could think straight again, slowly maneuvering himself so he and Derek could lie down next to each other, the sensation a bit uncomfortable because he had to arch his back to accommodate Derek’s slightly swollen, firm stomach.

“Your body is a bit out of whack, isn’t it?” he continued and Derek muttered “Huh?” obviously still occupied with coming inside of his mate.

“Well, it’s just that you never knotted me while you were pregnant with Leonie and I didn’t know you could produce a knot after the breeding urge had been satisfied?” Stiles continued and Derek sighed.

“I only topped once or twice in the very beginning of the pregnancy and besides, you never tried to edge me on with breeding talk while I was pregnant the last time,” he reminded his mate with a pleased groan, his orgasm finally over.

“What breeding talk, that thing about twins? I swear, Derek, your breeding kink eclipses mine by far! I was just joking by the way, if I learned one thing from the Knotting-Fiasco of 2018 it’s that your belly pops out much sooner with your second pregnancy,” he said and Derek snorted.

“At seven weeks, really? Seems a bit early to me, does it not?”

Stiles stilled. “Holy crap, do you actually think we’re having twins? I’m not prepared for this!” he gasped and Derek gently bit his shoulder.

“I might not be able to hear the heartbeat just yet, but I highly doubt it. Twins don’t run in our family and just because I’m a werewolf that does not mean I’m going to have a whole _litter_ ,” he scoffed.

“Oh thank god!” Stiles exhaled, moving one arm in an angle that allowed him to gently poke Derek’s stomach. “There better be just one baby in here, our daughter ordered one brother, not two.”

Derek was about to reply when Erica suddenly started speaking, too far away for Stiles to hear but loud and clear enough for any werewolf in the vicinity.

“So Derek,” she began conversationally, with only the slightest hint of threat underlining her words.

“I’m delighted for you and Stiles that your pregnancy has obviously not slowed down your libido yet and we would all be thrilled if you guys end up having twins of course, but the sounds of ecstasy I just heard were better not uttered on what was supposed to serve as my first marital bed because if they _were,_ me and Boyd are swiping you guys’ credit card to book us into a five star luxury honeymoon suite with a Jacuzzi _and_ we’ll demolish the entire mini bar and order champagne. Just for your information,” she finished sweetly and Derek sighed guiltily.

“My wallet is in the glove compartment in the car,” he said loudly, ignoring Scott’s gasp of “Holy crap, he’s really pregnant?!”, Cora’s excited squeal, Isaac’s muttered “Did _not_ need to know my Alpha had a breeding kink,” Jackson’s “About time!”, and Stiles’ decidedly confused “Huh?”

To Derek’s surprise it took only five minutes for the knot to go down this time, his body clearly confused as to why he was knotting his mate when he was the one who was pregnant and they both sighed in relief when they separated, both feeling a bit guilty about not only having sex on the newlywed’s bed but also because they had sneaked away to have sex in the first place.

They took a quick shower together and got dressed in Boyd’s clothes to rejoin the party. Stiles looked admittedly ridiculous in the much too large clothing but it suited Derek just fine, the long-sleeve shirt hiding his rounded stomach from Boyd and Erica’s human guests and the shorts wide enough to give him room to breathe.

Sheriff Stilinski was playing with Leonie when they walked outside, his expression turning from adoration to something that was the complete opposite when he saw his granddaughter’s fathers approaching.

“Stiles, Derek,” he greeted them, looking at their too large clothes, damp hair, and the sizeable hickey on Stiles’ neck. “I suppose I should just be glad you are no longer dressed as bears, which by the way, if that was supposed to be a political statement of sexual liberation of some sort this was _not_ the appropriate venue!” he continued and Stiles grinned sheepishly.

“Guess what Dad!” he whispered excitedly, tugging his father a bit further away from anyone who could overhear.

“We’re having another baby!” he beamed and the Sheriff blinked, before his stern expression turned into a wide grin.

“Are you really?” he asked Derek and Derek nodded, glancing to the left and to the right before he tugged up his shirt a little to display the bump.

“No doubt about it,” he smiled, making an oof-sound when he was suddenly wrapped up in a big embrace from his sister, who had stealthily approached from behind.

“Another baby!” she whispered, grinning from ear to ear.

“I’ll totally forgive you for shaming the Hale-name with that bear-spectacle!” she cooed before picking up Leonie and throwing her up into the air.

“Are you excited Honey-Pie?” she asked and Leonie giggled.

“Brother!” she said, pointing at Derek’s stomach and Cora raised her eyebrows.

“Really? You already know?”

Derek shook his head. “I’m only seven weeks along, at the most, there’s no way we can know yet,” he explained, his eyebrow rising up in protest when Cora pushed her hand against his stomach and made a tsking sound.

“Seven weeks? This feels more like you did when you were four months pregnant,” she said and Derek’s frown smoothed out into a pleased grin.

“And just like that my sister became my new favorite person,” he nodded, ignoring Stiles’ protest of “I said _almost_ five months, I didn’t say five months.”

“I am in total agreement with my niece I think,” Cora mused, her hand still stroking Derek’s belly. “Leonie needs a brother to tease,” she grinned, smiling widely when Leonie nodded emphatically.

The rest of the wedding went by in a flash of dancing, singing, and laughter and after all the guests that were not staying at the beach house had left, a grinning Erica, who had changed into jeans, a revealing top, and her leather-jacket, waltzed up to Derek and stuck out her hand expectantly.

“Keys?” she demanded and Derek sighed before handing her the keys to the Camaro, his eyebrows threatening her to better return the car without a scratch.

“Did she happen to say which five star hotel she wanted to go to? It’s not going to be on Hawaii or something like that, right?” Stiles asked, sounding concerned when the sound of the Camaro’s engine trailed off and Derek shrugged.

“Considering I knotted you on her bed during her wedding, I have decided I don’t even want to know,” he mused and Stiles winced.

“Good plan.”

Derek changed the sheets of Erica and Boyd’s bed while Stiles carried Leonie’s travel-cot from their original quarters to the bigger room, but their daughter had other ideas, refusing to go to sleep in her bed and crawling onto the big bed with them instead.

“She’s not jealous already, is she?” Stiles whispered when she had fallen asleep snuggled against Derek’s chest and Derek shook his head, nodding towards his abdomen.

Stiles followed his gaze and promptly had to blink away tears when he saw Leonie’s tiny hand pressed tightly against her father’s stomach, her nose pushed into the crest of his belly and sniffing softly, even as she slept.

“She’s scenting the baby already, I actually think she’s been doing it for a while, now that I think about it,” Derek explained softly, his own eyes suspiciously moist.

“It means she has already accepted the baby as a new member of the pack, even if she may not understand it completely yet,” he said and Stiles swallowed.

“I’m really happy Derek,” he finally said and Derek gently stroked his thumb across Stiles’ cheek.

“I love you,” he replied and Stiles turned his face a little, nuzzling into Derek’s hand and kissing his palm.

“I know,” he grinned and Derek rolled his eyes affectionately.

“I swear, your pop culture references are …” he trailed off, a look of wonderment coming over his features.

“Stiles?” he said, a soft smile on his face.

“Yes Derek?”

“It’s definitely just one baby in here,” Derek replied and Stiles’ face lit up.

“Did you just start hearing the heartbeat?” he whispered and Derek nodded, his hand moving away from Stiles’ face to gently cup his belly.

“You know what that means right?” Stiles grinned and Derek sighed, not liking the look on his mate’s face at all.

“Enlighten me,” he deadpanned and Stiles’ grin widened even further.

“The baby responded to me Han Solo-ing you just know, we are so naming him either Han or Harrison,” he whispered excitedly and Derek groaned.

“Han Hale is a _terrible_ name and besides, I thought we couldn’t give our child an alliterative first and last name?” he protested and Stiles laughed quietly.

“It’s a small price to pay for _total awesomeness_ , don’t you think?” he disagreed and Derek shook his head, one hand splayed on his belly in a protective gesture and the other stroking his sleeping daughter’s head.

“You children have one smart parent, always take comfort in that,” he muttered, smiling widely when Stiles whispered “Hey!” and gently nudged his shoulder.

He was still smiling when Stiles’ breathing had evened out and the entire house was asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pregnant Derek, a Disney Wedding, some truly horrifying name suggestions, a big sister who has very clear expectations for her sibling, an accident, a birth, and - last but not least - a cute little baby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger-Warning: This chapter includes an accident in which a truck is involved and there is in fact a little bit of angst and drama.
> 
> Also: I want to formally apologize to every Polish person who might read this - if your name pops up in here, please don't be offended and if you are, take comfort in the fact that in my country children used to be named Brunhilde.

_22 Weeks, December 1 st 2026_

Being pregnant, Derek discovered, went by much faster when you already had a small child to take care of and it certainly also helped that his second pregnancy had been much easier on him so far than the first.

Deaton had confirmed the pregnancy two days after Erica and Boyd’s wedding, his trusted black little notebook already in place and a look of delight on his face when he had realized that he could add a chapter for “Second Alpha-Male Pregnancies” into his almost finished volume detailing all the physical changes Derek had undergone while carrying Leonie.

Derek was almost certain that the former emissary was actually disappointed that the pregnancy didn’t follow the same pattern, even though he himself welcomed the change, not even wanting to imagine how he would have been able to take of his daughter while constantly having to throw up.

He had felt nauseous every now and then throughout the rest of the first trimester, and he had started taking naps again, but all in all it was no comparison to the weeks and weeks of vomiting and misery the first time around. The only thing that really bothered him was his back, which had started hurting him frequently while he was still in his first trimester, a testament to the fact that his belly was growing at a much quicker rate.

“I don’t think you’ll be all that much bigger this time,” Melissa had soothed his worries one night, gently reminding him that he was just showing earlier because the magical uterus already knew what it was doing.

Like last time, Stiles could barely keep his hands off of him and when Stiles wasn’t touching or kissing his stomach, his daughter was draped all over him, pushing her nose into his belly button and pressing her ear against his skin. She was utterly fascinated with being able to hear the baby’s heartbeat and Stiles had thrown his hands up in resignation, muttering something about owning the fact that he was the only human in a rapidly growing family of wolves.

Because he now knew what it felt like Derek had been able to sense the baby’s movements when he had been just 19 weeks pregnant and now, at 22 weeks, the kicks were becoming stronger and Derek was sure that his mate and daughter would be able to feel the baby moving from the outside soon.

He had teared up when he had first noticed it, surprised at how much he had missed feeling the sensation and shaking his head at himself and his hormones.

As far as the hormones were concerned, Derek was also very glad that Leonie had kept her promise of not telling the entire pack when her papa had started sobbing during a _My Little Pony_ episode one day.

At six months pregnant Derek had long ago transitioned back into the maternity jeans and his larger shirts and he sometimes found himself examining his stomach from all angles in front of the mirror, running his hands over it and marveling at the fact that he looked exactly like he had when he had carried Leonie.

The shape of his belly had led Stiles to wonder if they were actually having another girl and not the brother their daughter had ordered, despite the fact that Derek was unable to stand Nutella this time and currently eating his bodyweight in salt and vinegar chips.

Leonie had no such worries, telling the pack about her little brother whenever she saw them and Derek had begun to worry what might happen if they actually did have another girl on the way, since Leonie still rejected even the slightest hint that she might possibly get a little sister.

Therefore, they had decided to find out the gender this time, giving them the necessary time to ease their daughter into the thought of not getting a little brother, should that be the case.

“I’ll feel guilty if it actually is a girl, but I must admit I’m a little nervous,” Stiles mused when they were driving up to the clinic to pay Deaton a visit and Derek nodded absentmindedly, his hands cradling his swollen stomach. They had left Leonie at her grandfather’s house and when they got to Deaton’s, the vet was already waiting for them, excitement spread all over his face.

“Derek, Stiles, I must say I am excited that you want to find out the gender this time, as a vet one rarely gets the opportunity to tell expectant parents what their baby is going to be,” he remarked when Derek lifted himself onto the exam table and laid down, wincing when his back protested against the movement.

“How are you feeling Derek?” Deaton asked as he prepared the ultrasound machine and Derek sighed.

“Tired, most of the time. Working, taking care of Leonie and growing this baby is draining more of my energy than I thought it would, and my back has also been hurting me a lot lately,” he reported, smiling gratefully at his mate when Stiles once again placed a rolled up jacket under his head.

“And how about the little one?” Deaton asked and Derek smiled.

“The heartbeat is as strong as ever and it has been moving more recently, I think Stiles and Leonie will be able to feel for themselves very soon,” he said and Deaton nodded, before squirting some gel on Derek’s stomach and placing the transducer on his skin.

“Well, let’s see what we have here,” he muttered, concentrating on the screen and biting his lip in anticipation.

Derek grabbed Stiles’ hand tightly, not exactly sure what to feel.

Like last time he really did not have a preference and he knew in his heart that he would love another little girl just as much as Leonie, but he also did not want to be the one to tell his daughter that she was not going to get the little brother she had been hoping for after all.

Leonie had not been a difficult child at all so far and Derek was confident that he and Stiles were good at raising little girls, but even though his mate would never admit it out loud he was sure that Stiles would love to have a little boy so he could recreate the relationship he enjoyed with his own father.

Derek, who had always been more of a mama’s boy himself, wanted him to have that experience.

“Hmm,” Deaton suddenly said, and both father’s eyes were instantly glued to the grainy screen.

“Of course you can never be a hundred percent certain, but I must say I’m 99.5 percent sure that this baby is another little girl,” Talia Hale’s former emissary said, shaking his head at Stiles when he dropped his head onto the table with a dramatic sigh.

“Oh man, Leo-Pie is going to be _so_ mad at me!” he said and Derek turned to him with an incredulous frown, surprise still written all over his features.

“I think she’s going to be more mad at me, I’m the one carrying her after all,” he said and Stiles shook his head.

“But it was my sperm that made the decision, she’ll be mad at _me._ ”

Derek shook his head.

“Stiles … she doesn’t know what sperm is,” he said carefully and Stiles groaned.

“And she’ll _never_ find out. And neither will this one,” he muttered, before straightening up and smiling brightly.

“I love that we’re having another little girl, I really do, but her big sister is going to be _pissed_. We’re going to have _war_ in our house when they are both teenagers,” he lamented and Derek shrugged.

“I would hope she’d be over the disappointment by then,” he said and Deaton cleared his throat.

“Would you like me to print out these pictures for you?” he asked and Derek nodded.

He was still staring at the images when they were halfway back to the Sheriff’s house and when he sighed deeply Stiles gave him a worried glance.

“Are you alright Derek?” he asked and Derek nodded.

“Of course I’m alright, the baby is healthy and little girls are wonderful … but I still can’t believe it, I mean, I didn’t have a preference, you know I didn’t, but I was almost sure we were actually having a boy. This pregnancy has felt so different than when I was carrying Leonie,” he mused and Stiles nodded.

“I know, my mind is still blown to be perfectly honest. I’m ready to be the proud father of the most beautiful girls in Beacon Hills, but my instincts were absolutely saying boy as well.”

He reached over and patted Derek’s stomach gently when they stopped at a traffic light.

“You’re a little trickster like your daddy, aren’t you?” he teased and Derek laughed.

“I really hope she’s not,” he said.

“That being said, how would you feel if we don’t tell Leonie yet? I’m actually quite tired and I don’t think I can handle an upset baby-werewolf tonight,” Derek said and Stiles nodded.

“I actually don’t think we should tell her at all, just let her face the facts when the baby is born,” he mused and Derek shook his head.

“She’ll be able to pick up on your elevated heartbeat when she talks about her little brother the next time around and you agree with her, there’s no way we will be able to keep this a secret from her. Let’s tell her tomorrow, alright?” Derek asked and Stiles sighed.

“Alright, but I still say she’ll hate _me_ , not you.”

 

================

 

Leonie, as it turned out, was too upset to hate anybody when Derek gently explained to her that the baby in his belly was a little girl and not a little boy the next day and the pregnant werewolf exchanged a concerned look with his mate when their daughter crawled onto his lap and sobbed into his shirt, big tears streaming down her face.

“She is _really_ upset,” Stiles mouthed at his mate and Derek nodded, helplessly stroking his daughter’s back. He had expected a little temper tantrum, maybe a bit of screaming and foot stomping, but he was unsure how to deal with the huge, desperate sobs coming from his daughter instead.

“It’s not all that bad,” he tried to console her, “Cora is my little sister and I love Cora. You like Aunt Cora, don’t you?” he gently tried to encourage her and Leonie sniffled.

“I love Auntie Cora, but Papa, I want a brother,” she wailed before pressing her face into his chest again and hiccupping.

“You’ll get a brother at some point, I promise,” Stiles said, wincing when Derek actually kicked his shin and gave him an angry glare.

“Enough with the promises we can’t keep!” he mouthed and Stiles smiled guiltily.

Leonie ended up crying herself to sleep and when Stiles came back into the living room after he had carried her to her room Derek was sitting in their armchair, resting his feet on the ottoman and rubbing his stomach lightly.

“I don’t think I’ve _ever_ seen her so upset,” he sighed, leaning against Stiles’ chest when the human joined him on the big armchair.

“I know, I _hate_ seeing her so upset, but there’s really nothing we can do about it. I just hope she gets used to the idea quickly, I don’t know how many more tearful episodes I can stand before I try to buy her a pony as a consolation price or something.”

“No pony,” Derek said quickly and Stiles sighed.

“I wasn’t serious anyways … at least not really,” he shrugged.

When Leonie got up the next morning her fathers watched her anxiously, looking for signs of distress and a little worried when Leonie appeared to be just fine.

A little worry turned into a lot of worry when Derek picked her up from school in the afternoon and discovered that Leonie’s coping strategy with the loss of her dream of a little brother was utter and complete denial.

Her first words when she climbed into the car were, “How is my little brother today?” and when Derek reminded her that it was actually a little sister she shook her head, a serious look on her face.

“No Papa, you’re wrong, I’m having a brother,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest and refusing to say another word on the drive home.

Derek and Stiles allowed her to carry on like that for almost a week before they sat her down again, trying to explain once more that the little brother was actually a little sister and that that really wasn’t a bad thing.

“Silly Daddy, can’t you see that it’s a brother?” was Leonie’s only comment and Stiles looked at Derek helplessly.

“Should we get her a dog? Maybe that will help?” Stiles asked later that night and Derek shook his head emphatically.

“I’m not picking up dog poop just because our daughter gets her stubbornness from you and me combined,” he declared and Stiles sighed.

“Well, we should do _something_ , our child is really unhappy with us, even if she pretends she isn’t.”

“Stiles,” Derek sighed, rolling onto his side so he was facing his mate.

“Three year olds don’t pretend they are happy with you when they are in fact unhappy, I don’t think they are even capable of it,” he argued and Stiles rubbed his eyes in response.

“Which means that she is in denial. Great. I have a three-year old who’s employing psychological defense mechanisms because her fathers failed her.”

Derek grunted.

“Keep talking like that and our poor baby will be born ready for her first therapy session herself, spending all of her life wondering why she always felt like a failure,” he scoffed and Stiles huffed.

“How about we just let it go for now. I mean, she is a stubborn little wolf-baby and if we keep talking about the baby as a girl and, I don’t know, maybe get her one of these overpriced American Girl dolls so she can play having a little sister, then maybe she’ll get used to the idea?”

Derek laughed quietly.

“I really don’t think it’s good parenting to placate our daughter with presents for something that is neither bad, nor in our control,” he mused and Stiles grinned sheepishly.

“My first instinct is to placate my child with presents when she stubs her toe on a toy _she_ left lying around, I don’t know why this is a surprise to you.”

Derek rolled his eyes, but the smile on his face betrayed the gesture.

“Now that we know what we are having we can really get started on talking baby names by the way,” Stiles mused and Derek sighed.

“Well, we’ve been so busy getting our daughter to accept the fact that she’s having a little sister that we should probably figure out what this sister’s name will be I guess,” he agreed, turning his head slightly.

“I thought that maybe we should include Leonie in the decision-making progress, maybe that will help her come to terms with it easier?” Derek suggested and Stiles grimaced.

“First she wanted to name her brother Hubie and if I am not a hundred percent mistaken I think I overheard her talking to her teddy bear about her little brother named Rainbow Dash last week. Don’t get me wrong, I think she’s the smartest little girl on the planet, but her naming-capabilities are not really – fully developed yet.”

“She takes after you then,” Derek teased gently, smiling when the baby thumped its head against Stiles’ stroking hand as if in agreement, his smile widening when the look on Stiles’ face was a comical mixture of excitement and betrayal.

“Hey baby!” he breathed, both hands on Derek’s belly where he had felt the movement. “So glad you decided to say hi, although I must say I’m a bit disappointed that your first contact with me was actually to demonstrate agreement with your papa.”

Derek grinned. “Just be grateful we have smart children,” he teased and Stiles huffed playfully.

“Well _, someone_ in this family has to put an effort into baby-naming. Throughout the entire first pregnancy all I heard from you was Jonathan and lots of criticism about my name choices and then you just took one look at our daughter and declared her name was Leonie, making it look like baby-naming should be put on your resume under special skills,” Stiles replied and Derek laughed.

“I actually had a lot of boy names I wanted to suggest this time,” he grinned and Stiles smiled widely.

“You say that _now_ , but imagine all the arguments we would have had over the Polish middle name,” he teased, laughing quietly when Derek frowned.

“I wasn’t aware we were looking for a Polish middle name,” he said questioningly and Stiles chuckled.

“Well, since it was made clear to me that we are never going to have a child named Jacob John, regardless of how awesome that would be, I figured we have to give an unpronounceable – or at least completely foreign-sounding – name to at least one of our children instead. If it had been a boy we could have established an actual family tradition. I had actually researched some suggestions, for example, what do you think of the names Bogumil or Bohumir?”

Derek sighed deeply. “Again with the popular culture references, just admit you wanted to name the kid after Boromir from this tediously long movie because the only other Sean Bean character you know is Eddard Stark and you rightfully assumed that there was no way we are naming any child of ours Eddard – which, while we are on the subject, sounds _suspiciously_ like Edward.”

Stiles huffed dramatically, his hand clutching at his chest. “You wound me, Derek, you deeply wound me. If I wanted to name the kid after a kick-ass character from _Lord of the Rings_ you’d bet we’d be calling him Gandalf! And as you very well know, I’d _always_ choose Jacob over Edward!”

He grinned. “I was also going to suggest Bratumil,” he continued and Derek almost choked on the barbecue chips he had been nibbling on.

“I’m sure Bratumil is a beautiful name to a Polish native speaker and I hate to be an ignorant foreigner here, but I’m sorry, to me it just sounds like Bratwurst.”

Stiles threw his head back and laughed, making the entire bed shake.

“Point taken Sassy Wolf, point taken. Also, how about Przbyslaw?”

Derek shook his head.

“I’m willing to bet you just completely mispronounced that yourself,” he argued and Stiles grinned.

“That would be a safe bet, probably.”

“I was actually going to suggest Janek,” Derek smiled, laughing quietly when Stiles’ eyes widened.

“That’s a Polish diminutive version of John, you Sneaky Wolf, you were totally thinking along the same lines as me!” he exhaled and Derek laughed.

“Well, I would have asked our daughter if she had a reasonable idea for a first name, I still remember being asked for input with Cora’s name and being extremely disappointed when I realized my parents didn’t mean it, but yes, Janek would have been a nice middle name in honor of your family,” he smiled softly.

“Well, our daughter’s input would have led to us naming the kid either Hubie Janek or Rainbow Dash Janek, so I guess it’s a good thing after all she’s a girl,” Stiles laughed.

“That being said, I don’t have the slightest clue which girl name I like. I know I originally said I wanted to name Leo-Pie Sophia, but somehow, this time, I’m just not feeling it,” he lamented and Derek sighed.

“We could always wait until we see her,” he suggested and Stiles snorted.

“That’s code for saying you don’t have a clue either,” he said and Derek shrugged.

“People are naming their kids after seasons, food, cities, and natural disasters left and right these days, I’m sure Rainbow Dash works both for a boy and a girl.”

He ignored Stiles’ muttered “Serves you right” when the baby delivered a rather sharp kick against his ribs in obvious protest.

 

==================

 

 _29 Weeks, January 23 rd, _2027

Last year’s Christmas and New Year’s lay behind the Hale-Stilinski family and unlike the past three years of quiet festivity, this time the atmosphere had been quite – charged for a variety of reasons.

Leonie was still convinced she was actually getting a brother, refusing to listen to anyone on the subject, even her grandfather, whose words she usually took as the irrefutable truth. She had been excited about the American Girl doll her fathers had given her for Christmas, but Stiles and Derek’s excitement had turned into slight frustration when she had informed the doll that she could help her take her of her little baby brother.

As he got bigger and bigger, Derek had begun to suffer from a variety of pains again, especially in his lower back and hips and he had found it difficult to explain to his energetic child while he had to rest his throbbing muscles so often. Additionally, his body had apparently decided to make up for the lack of nausea in his first trimester by gifting him with near-constant heartburn in his third trimester and he had barely dared to eat any of the rich foods the pack had brought to the Christmas get-together at Scott and Allison’s house.

Then Jackson had shown up and declared he was about to get married and become a father and things had gotten – ugly. Jackson’s fiancé, it turned out, still had no idea she was dating a werewolf and was possibly about to give birth to a werewolf baby, even though Jackson had claimed they had been making progress in introducing her to the supernatural.

Both Derek and Scott had yelled at him for being irresponsible for almost an hour while Lydia had sat on the couch in silence, Leonie on her lap and her face completely expressionless. In the end, Jackson had furiously stormed away, Scott had been in an extremely sour mood, Stiles and Allison had spent the rest of the evening comforting Lydia, and Derek had simply resigned himself to more back pain, having worked himself up to the point where he was just a ball of tension.

Jackson had refused to attend the pack’s New Year’s party and Leonie had sulked all night, making it hard for her fathers to forget the current pack drama. Amidst all the tension with Jackson, however, there were lots of things to prepare because Derek and Stiles’ main Christmas gift for their daughter had been an invitation to a princess wedding.

It had taken Stiles a bit of convincing to get Derek to agree, his usually open-minded werewolf being surprisingly appalled at the idea of getting married while pregnant, and they had finally reached the compromise that the wedding was to take place before he started growing breasts again.

As it turned out, the wedding was a gift for Lydia just as much as it was for Leonie, giving the banshee the opportunity to take her mind off her former boyfriend’s impending fatherhood.

“It’s not that it bothers me that he’s going to have a child and I won’t, I still believe it was the right decision for me,” she had explained to Allison on the phone one evening, while they were going over the wedding-menu Allison had offered to help out with. “It’s just … with as much as I loved him, it still pains me that I’m not the one who could give him what he truly wanted, you know?”

Since the pool of wedding guests that would not have freaked out at the sight of a pregnant groom was somewhat small and therefore easy to coordinate, the wedding took place on the afternoon of Saturday, January 23rd.

As promised, Leonie got to wear a Disney princess dress, a beautiful yellow ball gown inspired by _The Beauty and the Beast_ , her current favorite, despite Derek’s very pained grimace when he had seen her selection.

Derek still did not really see the point of it and if Stiles was honest, neither did he, having felt married to Derek for over ten years already and so they decided to humor their daughter, including as many Disney clichés as possible in the nuptials, which were taking place in Derek’s old loft, still in their possession so Cora had a place to stay by herself when she was in town.

The pack was dressed in a variety of Disney costumes, including baby Mikey, who wore an adorable little dwarf hat while his parents were dressed as Snow White and Prince Florian. Lydia had borrowed Allison’s bow and was dressed as Merida and Leonie was absolutely fascinated with her lavish ginger curls.

Peter had shown up as Captain Hook with a bottle of rum – proving Stiles’ theory that he had indeed been the one responsible for their daughter’s former _Peter Pan_ obsession – and Cora had decided to go as Queen Elsa after a dark-hair dye job.

Isaac had combined multiple princes and was wearing a costume that was partly inspired by Charming, Philip, and Eric, while the Sheriff had bought a crown and a trident and was going as King Triton in a suit.

Not having a large pool of good Disney mothers to choose from, Melissa had decided to go as a human Sarabi from _The Lion King_ , wearing a sand-colored, figure-hugging dress. The highlight, however, were definitely Boyd and Erica, who had shown up as Kenai and Koda from _Brother Bear_ , the mischievous looks on their faces daring the grooms to utter even one word.

Derek and Stiles meanwhile had argued over their choice in costumes for weeks. Stiles had suggested the Beast for Derek, to fit in with Leonie’s Belle and if their daughter had not been in the room Stiles was quite certain Derek would have growled at him ferociously.

He had suggested Mowgli next, arguing that the boy had indeed been raised by a pack of wolves, and Derek had looked at him in utter mortification, declaring quite firmly that although Stiles couldn’t seem to get enough of his body, he was not about to flaunt his ever-expanding stomach in front of their pack dressed in only a loin-cloth. He had ruled out Tarzan based on the same reason.

“Well Derek,” Stiles had finally sighed, stepping up behind his mate and caressing his belly with a fond smile, “if you refuse to go as one of the regular princes because their costumes would look strange – your words, not mine – with a big belly, that really limits your options. Most of the bigger Disney characters are either really old or really evil,” he had grinned, adding “The latter of which is something one probably shouldn’t think about in too much detail because if one were to do that one would start thinking about all the other ways in which Disney can be offensive and politically incorrect and that _really_ sucks the joy right out of life.”

He had frowned in confusion when Derek had suddenly turned to him with a wicked smile on his face.

“How about we … give one of the old tales a new spin,” he had suggested with a large grin and Stiles had gulped, their roles for once reversed when it came to coming up with rather strange ideas.

Derek’s idea, Stiles had to admit, did have the added effect of allowing them to wear clothes suitable for a festivity such as a wedding, when King Triton walked him down the aisle as Prince Aladdin in his cream-colored wedding outfit and turban. The color did nothing for his pale complexion, but he had to admit that Derek, who joined him at the makeshift altar escorted by Cora, looked equally cute, hot, and gorgeous as the Sultan. He had grown out his beard just a little and his eyes were sparkling in amusement when he took Stiles’ hand, the light color of the outfit making his round belly even more pronounced, which was – of course – very much in character.

Scott, who had gone online and ordained himself as a minister just for the heck of it, was about to begin the ceremony when the doors to the loft opened and Jackson and his fiancé tiptoed inside. They were dressed as Mulan and Li-Shang and looked a little sheepish when they walked up to join the rest of the guests.

“Sorry we’re late,” Jackson mumbled, “I had a little bit of trouble with the outfit.” His fiancé grinned, stroking his hair affectionately.

“I might have been the spark and emissary of my last pack, but even I wasn’t able to grow out his hair magically over night so he could put it in Li-Shang’s warrior bun,” she added with a small smile, grinning at the flabbergasted pack when they looked at her in shock.

“Hi, I’m Julia, I would have loved to meet you all sooner, but I was waiting for Jackson to finally tell me he was a werewolf,” she said, giving her fiancé a rather put-out look that suggested they had had _plenty_ of conversations about that.

Jackson was blushing bright red, but he smiled hesitantly when Leonie ran over to him and hugged his leg enthusiastically.

“My Daddy and Papa are getting married!” she exclaimed and Jackson ruffled her hair with a soft smile.

“I can see that princess. You look very beautiful today,” he bowed in front of her and Leonie giggled, before skipping back to the front and joining her grandfather in the first row.

“That being said …” Scott began, his tone suggesting that there was a lot more that would be said at a more appropriate point in time, “I say it’s about time we have ourselves a wedding, shall we?”

The ceremony was short and very Disney, and Stiles beamed at his father when the Sheriff actually had to wipe away tears, despite his earlier assertions that seeing the Sultan marry Aladdin was just all kinds of wrong.

Julia, the pack came to find out during the wedding dinner, was extremely knowledgeable about banshees and she and Lydia got along surprisingly well, to the relief of everyone around them.

“I’m not going to say it’s not a little weird, because it is,” she admitted when Allison pulled her aside before they left, “but it’s a lot easier than I thought it was going to be.”

Cora and Isaac had volunteered for clean-up duty and so Derek and Stiles were free to leave the party around 10 PM, minus their daughter, who had gone home with her grandfather an hour earlier.

At 29 weeks pregnant Derek was exhausted when they got back to the house and he was already snuggled into his pillows when Stiles joined him on their bed.

“I say we are back on track for the “Best Dads Ever” award, don’t you think?” Stiles asked his mate teasingly, his lips pressing feathery kisses against Derek’s stretched skin.

“Well, we are still not getting her a dog and we messed up the part about the baby brother, but I would say it was a very successful princess wedding,” Derek agreed, smiling gently when Stiles leaned over his belly to kiss him deeply.

“I know it’s our second wedding night basically, but I’m afraid I’m a little too achy and exhausted for this to go down anywhere close to our actual mating-night,” Derek apologized when Stiles began to nuzzle at his collar-bone, sighing softly when he could feel his mate smiling widely against his tanned skin.

“As fun as it would be to recreate that experience, how would you feel about me giving you an awesome blow-job instead?” Stiles asked, his hand rubbing gently against Derek’s groin and Derek’s answering moan and the twitch of his penis was all the answer Stiles needed.

 

===============

 

 _33 Weeks, February 18 th, _2027

Despite having anticipated the growth of his chest for some time, Derek was nevertheless a little disappointed when he woke up during the middle of his 30th week of pregnancy and found his breasts large, round, and swollen, aching from the strain of having grown over night and extremely sore to the touch.

Deaton, of course, was delighted that at least this aspect of the pregnancy was identical to his first and Stiles had barely succeeded in keeping his excited grin in check, when he had offered a sensual breast-massage later that evening.

Leonie, meanwhile, was extremely confused at the change in her father’s body and Derek had groaned inwardly when she had asked him if he was her mommy now, wondering how he was supposed to explain the inner workings of male werewolf pregnancy to a three-year old.

“You have to admit it is interesting that she waited this long to ask you if you were turning into her mommy, considering how very pregnant you’ve been looking lately,” Stiles had wondered when he had told him about it and Derek had grimaced when the baby had delivered a particularly painful kick against his kidneys, sparing his mate from a few choice comments he might have had to offer at his observation.

Erica and Boyd had treated themselves to a long-overdue honeymoon and embarked on a world-tour the day after Derek and Stiles’ Disney Wedding, a joint-present from everyone in the pack, which, not that anyone ever spoke about it out loud, actually had access to a lot of resources, with Jackson’s inheritance, Lydia’s well-paying job and inheritance, and Stiles’ frequent generous bonuses from the candy company.

Isaac had refused to be put through school by Derek, arguing that it was something he had to do on his own to prove his father wrong once and for all, but Boyd and Erica had accepted the check for their tickets gladly, everyone in silent agreement that it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

They had been gone for almost a month and everyone had gotten postcards in the mail over the past weeks, from Argentina, New Zealand, and Australia. The newly-weds seemed to be enjoying themselves, but with them gone, Lydia back in San Francisco, Cora back in Berkeley, Jackson busy with waiting on his fiancé, who had been hit by a vicious bout of morning sickness, and Scott and Allison focused on their rambunctious one-year old, who had just started to walk and was constantly endangering his life if a panicky Scott was to be believed, it sometimes got a little lonely around the Hale house.

To his great chagrin, Derek had started to depend heavily on Peter to help him with Leonie, for the simple reason that he could no longer pick her up himself without drawing too much attention. When he had no longer been able to conceal his growing belly he had gotten away with little jokes about his beer gut for a while, aided by the cold weather and his coats, but now that there were two full, perfectly-shaped breasts in the equation, it just wasn’t possible to hide his pregnant shape anymore.

Hence Peter to the rescue, the only member of the pack who seemingly never had to work when Leonie got out of school, which was probably due to the fact that he never seemed to have a job in the first place.

Derek was mostly convinced that Peter would never do anything to harm his little girl, but the nagging feeling of doubt always lingered. His emotions towards his uncle were complicated at any given day, the loss of Laura always on his mind, but everyday between 3 and 3:20 PM he found it just that little bit harder to breathe until he could hear Peter’s car pulling up in their driveway and hear the chattering of his daughter.

Peter was not Leonie’s favorite person beside her parents, that title equally spread between her grandfather, Jackson, and Scott, but she loved him nevertheless and it gave Derek comfort to know that at least his daughter was enjoying herself on the drive from her school to her parents’ house.

He was, therefore, more than alarmed when the car pulled up on a rainy day in the middle of February and all he could hear was silence. He wasn’t sure whether it was the hormones or his natural suspicious nature, but Derek’s heart-rate skyrocketed as he hefted himself out of his chair, ignoring the twinges in his back as he quickly waddled towards the front-door, only slightly relieved when his daughter seemed to be unharmed as she ran up to him and clung to him tightly.

Derek continued to ignore his protesting back as he lifted her up and situated her on his hip, having to bend to the side a little to accomplish the task and his worry increased when Leonie pressed her face into the crook of his neck and refused to make a sound.

“What did you _do_?” he whispered furiously at his uncle and Peter’s face darkened.

“I’ll have you know that I’m not always responsible for the bad things happening to this family,” Peter hissed back and although a part of Derek knew that his uncle probably had not meant it that way it still felt like a slap to his face. He was angry at himself when tears welled up in his eyes and he barely acknowledged the look of alarm and guilt in Peter’s eyes when he turned around and slammed the door in his uncle’s face.

Peter didn’t make any efforts to make it right, which was just as well, since Derek would not have been in the mood to listen. He gently detached Leonie from his neck and sat her down, not wanting her to see him cry, and walked into the kitchen to make her a snack, sounding off even to his own ears when he asked her how school had been.

“Good,” Leonie answered quietly, refusing to meet his gaze when Derek set a plate of celery and bell peppers in front of her.

The effort to keep his eyes from spilling over was getting to be too much and Derek turned back towards the sink, turning on the faucets to muffle his sobs as he began to cry, overwhelmed by the age-old grief that never seemed to go away completely, no matter how happy he was.

He forced himself to turn around when he heard Leonie jump down from the barstool and was struck by how little and lost she looked as she stood in the middle of the kitchen, her celery and bell peppers completely untouched.

“Papa?” she whispered shakily and when he saw the first tears rolling down his daughter’s cheeks Derek completely lost it.

He could feel the baby moving agitatedly as he sank down onto the cold kitchen floor, shaking with large sobs and when he held out his arms Leonie flew into them, clinging to him as if her life depended on it and sobbing just as violently. Derek had no idea what had gotten her so upset in the first place and he knew he should probably ask, but every time he thought he was ready to speak a new sob tore through him.

They were still wrapped in each other’s arms on the kitchen floor, sobbing as if the world was indeed coming to an end when Stiles stumbled into the kitchen, out of breath and his eyes wide open with alarm.

“I just got a text from Peter to tell me he had accidentally broken my daughter and mate, I came as quickly as I could, what did he _do_?!” Stiles asked, trying to take Leonie into his arms so Derek could get up and frowning when she cried louder and clung to Derek even harder. After he had made sure that neither of them was hurt, Stiles got down on the floor with them, allowing Derek to lean into his embrace and calmly stroking his back in the hopes of soothing his upset mate.

“I know it’s not my fault,” Derek finally got out, holding onto Stiles’ shirt with one hand while the other was clutching his daughter, “but oh my god, Stiles, I miss my family so much it _hurts_.”

“What did Peter _say_?!” Stiles amended his previous question, his expression darkening when Derek was finally able to repeat the conversation.

“I’m going to hurt him, mark my words, I’m going to hurt him and I’ll enlist Cora’s help, that’s what I’ll do,” Stiles muttered, pressing a kiss onto Derek’s forehead.

“I need you to calm down, I know you know it’s not your fault. I love you, our daughters love you, we can’t stand seeing you upset,” he whispered, stroking Derek’s hair softly and breathing a sigh of relied when Derek’s sobs became less frequent.

The baby, however, was still moving around agitatedly, its movements visible through Derek’s shirt and obviously reacting to Leonie, who was still whimpering into Derek’s neck.

“Leo-Pie,” Stiles soothed when he was certain Derek had himself back under control, reaching out to gently stroke her back alongside Derek. “Did something happen to you at school today? Is that why you are so upset?” he asked, shrugging helplessly when Leonie sniffled loudly.

“Leonie, baby, can you tell me what’s wrong, I need you to tell me what’s wrong,” Derek said, his voice still sounding congested but much more in control now and Leonie shifted in his arms, draping herself over his belly and pushing her hands into his sides.

“Don’t go away, my fault if they take you and my brother,” Leonie finally sobbed and her fathers looked at each other in confusion.

“No one is taking either of us away, what are you talking about,” Derek asked and Leonie shook her head.

“Yes they will, they said they would cu…cut into anamalieses and ki…kill them,” she hiccupped and Derek gently lifted up her little chin.

“Who said that, where did you hear that?” he asked, sighing in frustration when Leonie sobbed “In Uncle Peter’s car,” realizing that she had probably listened to some sort of gory news on the radio.

“What are anamalieses Leo-Pie?” Stiles asked and Leonie rubbed her eyes furiously.

“Papa!” she sobbed, adding “Ms. Lilah said there are normal things and there are anamalieses and people don’t _like_ anamalieses.”

“Anomaly? Are you talking about anomalies Leo-Pie? Why would you say Papa is an anomaly?” Stiles asked confused and Leonie’s hold on Derek’s stomach tightened.

“Papas don’t have babies! Only mommies have babies. I drew a picture of you and Papa and me and my brother and I drew him in Papa’s tummy and Ms. Lilah said that was wrong, that only mommies have babies in their tummy.” Leonie explained, guilt written all over her face.

“I know I can’t tell my friends about our secret, but Ms. Lilah said we should draw our parents a picture and I just wanted to draw you a pre-present,” she wailed, hiding her face in Derek’s belly.

“And now Ms. Lilah _knows_ and she will tell _them_ , and then they’ll come and take you and it will be _my fault_ ,” she cried.

Derek, who finally understood why his daughter was refusing to let him go and also why she had been so upset when she had gotten home, shook his head and lifted her until she was sitting on his stomach, her tear-streaked face directly in front of his.

“Listen to me Leonie, you did nothing wrong, no one is going to come and take me away, I promise you. Ms. Lilah doesn’t understand because Ms. Lilah doesn’t know our secret and even if you drew a picture of us, it does not matter because she would not believe it. Some people just can’t believe there are werewolves, do you understand. That does not mean they will come and take me away or kill me and even if they tried, your daddy, your Uncle Scott, Uncle Jackson, Isaac, Boyd, Auntie Cora and Auntie Erica would do everything to protect the baby and me. Don’t you think Auntie Erica would be able to scare anybody away who would dare to threaten our family?” Derek asked her, smiling with relief when Leonie uttered a shaky little laugh.

“Auntie Erica can be really scary,” she agreed and Stiles laughed softly, kissing her head and taking her little hand in his.

“But Daddy and Papa can be even scarier when someone comes and wants to do something bad to our babies, so don’t you ever worry about that Leo-Pie, we will always be there for you and we will _always_ protect you,” he said with conviction, aware that his daughter was probably listening to his heartbeat.

She was no longer crying and Derek lifted her off his stomach, the pressure getting to be a little too uncomfortable and he winced when the baby kicked again.

“Can you tell the baby you are feeling better Leo-Pie? I think your baby is worried about you,” Derek smiled and Leonie dutifully bent down to kiss his stomach, laughing in delight when she pushed her hand below his navel and the baby’s hand pushed against hers from the inside.

“Hey little brother. I’ll always protect you, too,” she promised solemnly and Stiles and Derek smiled, too moved by her innocent honesty to bother correcting her about the gender.

 

==================

 

“I don’t think she had anything to worry about, I look more like a big fat snow-man than a pregnant papa,” Derek mused that evening, when they had tucked Leonie into her bed. She had fallen asleep the second her head hit the pillow, exhausted from all the crying and her fathers had stayed at her side for almost five minutes afterwards, neither of them willing to leave her alone just yet.

“The only person who has something to worry about is your sorry excuse of an uncle, who really needs to learn how to turn his radio down when he has little children in the car,” Stiles muttered darkly.

“Also, who uses the word anomaly when talking to little children,” he continued and Derek sighed.

“I actually don’t mind that too much, I’d rather have Ms. Lilah talk to them like that instead of saying goo-goo and gaa-gaa all the time.”

“Still, I might have to have a talk with her about what’s normal and what’s not, who knows what else she is going to teach our daughter in the next couple of months,” Stiles sighed, rolling onto his side next to Derek and stroking his belly softly.

“Speaking of the next couple of months … we’re about to have another baby and we have not talked about names in forever,” he mused and Derek shrugged.

“Well, I still think we should involve Leo-Pie somehow, even though she still refuses to accept that it’s a girl.”

Stiles sighed again. “I think we might actually have to give up that particular fight, she’ll see for herself soon enough. Meanwhile, I went on baby-naming websites and I am now convinced there are some truly evil people in the world.”

He shuddered upon the memory. “ _Evil_ , Derek, I tell you, _evil_! Did you know there is apparently some poor unfortunate soul named Mayo Head?”

Derek’s eyes flew wide open. “Mayo Head? What does that even mean? Someone who can only think of mayo?”

Stiles grimaced. “I wish my mind was as innocent as yours Sweetie Wolf. I was thinking more along the lines of the Twinkie of Love and you know, what’s once thought can never be un-thought.”

Derek gagged. “Mayo head … a _head_ with a sticky, whitish substance … mayo… well, my beloved mate, guess who’s not going to get a blow-job for the next five to ten years.”

Stiles shook his head frantically.

“It was a joke, I swear … ok, it was not a joke, that poor kid does exist, but please, there is already enough misery in the world because of the existence of this name, we don’t want to further add to it, right?”

Derek pinched his nose. “Moving on,” he said softly, his eyes threatening to lengthen the blowjob ban to at least 15 years.

“I’m assuming names that begin with L are out, since we already have Leonie, but what do you think about Lupita?”

“Do you remember what I said when you suggested Lupine last time?”

“Uhm … that even if there were a thousand parallel universes, we would not have a child named like that in any of them?”

“Exactly. The same reasoning applies.”

Stiles grinned. “You’re just no fun Sour Wolf. Speaking of wolves, I actually did research some wolfy names and I can offer you Adalwolfa, which means noble wolf, Ulrica, which means wolf ruler, and Guadalupe, which apparently comes from the Arabic word for river of the wolf.”

Derek opened his mouth and closed it again, electing just to stare at his mate until he got the message.

“Moving on?” Stiles asked finally and couldn’t suppress his grin when Derek nodded resolutely.

“We could always go with something popular, like Emily, Emma, Madison or Hannah, but I’m afraid that she’d go to school with at least five of each. It’s a shame, really, I would have liked Emma,” Stiles lamented and Derek shrugged.

“I would have preferred Emily, actually, but you’re right, we don’t want to use a name that almost every other parent is choosing these days … like Jacob,” he continued, lips curling into a sarcastic grin.

Stiles threw his hands up with a sigh. “I’ve already admitted defeat, what else do you want? Unless … how about Jacoba. That could be a girls name.”

“Over my dead werewolf body,” Derek said firmly.

“How about you suggest a name for a change Derek, I can see a baby-naming-fail pattern here and I don’t like it,” Stiles challenged, sitting up next to Derek and crossing his arms expectantly.

Derek thought for a second.

“Calista?” he said hesitantly and Stiles shook his head rapidly.

“Nope. Calista Flockhart married Harrison Ford and ruined my teenage dreams of becoming Mrs. Harrison Ford one day – not literally speaking of course, I couldn’t really say I was Mr. Harrison Ford because there can be only one Mr. Harrison Ford ... and now I’m quoting Highlander, I know, enough with the eyebrows Derek,” he finished, his cheeks glowing with embarrassment.

“Mallory?” Derek tried next and Stiles snorted.

“Do you know what that means? The Unlucky One. I really don’t think we should saddle a child growing up in Beacon Hills with a name that basically screams foreshadowing.”

Derek’s wince suggested that he hadn’t known that.

“Cheyenne?” he said and once again Stiles shook his head.

“Weren’t you the one that said we can’t use cities? Cheyenne, as much as I like that name actually, is not only a city, but also the capital of Wyoming, a state which, if Ang Lee is to be believed, really hates gay people.”

He frowned. “In case you wanted to suggest Bethany, Sydney or Savannah next, those are also cities.”

Derek huffed. “You don’t say. Sydney is a city? Wow, thank you for enlightening me. And trust me, I was not about to suggest Savannah … that’s a desert.”

Stiles leaned over and gave his mate a soft kiss on his temple.

“You’re getting a bit snappy, just wanting to make sure you still love me,” he smiled apologetically and Derek sighed, opening his arms and drawing Stiles closer until he was nestled in the crook of his arm, allowing Stiles to frame his swollen midsection with his arm.

“I’m sorry. It’s just … naming a baby is such a big responsibility. You might think a name is awesome but then one day it suddenly lands on a list called “Ugliest Baby Names Ever” that gets circulated all around the Internet,” he grumbled and Stiles gently trailed his finger across the bump.

“I’m sure she’ll alert us if she thinks we are about to commit a baby-naming felony. She was pretty clear on not wanting to be named Rainbow Dash after all.”

Derek laughed. “That is true. How about Athena or Juno? I know they are goddesses, but I think I like both.”

Stiles tsked loudly. “Firstly, my regrettably popular-culture clueless beloved, Athena is a Cylon from _Battlestar Galactica_ , and if I don’t get to name the kid after one of my favorite characters on TV, then you don’t get to either, and I don’t care that you’ve never seen _BSG_ , which, since we are on the subject, is still almost a reason to break-up with you.”

“Secondly, Juno is also a name that was big in popular culture a while back and I’m sorry, there is no way my daughter will be named after a pregnant teenager. Nomen est omen and I’m not going to become a grandfather while our babies are still in High School, nope, I refuse.”

Derek shook his head. “Point taken. How about Violet, Saffron, or Jasmine?”

Stiles smiled brightly. “Awww, that’s so adorable. You want to name our beautiful little girl after a beautiful flower. You are _such_ a Sappy Wolf!”

Derek sighed exasperatedly. “Your turn,” he grumbled and Stiles grinned triumphantly.

“Alice! It’s a royal name, I googled.”

“It’s also a name inspired by _Twilight_. Stiles, we’ve been over this, I’ve read the books and I recognize these things now. I wish I didn’t, but I do and I think it is extremely unfair to try and trick my pregnant scatterbrain into forgetting.”

Stiles tilted his neck so he could press a kiss against Derek’s jaw.

“Other literature then? Cosette, Beatrice or Scarlett maybe?”

“The Scarlett Letter? Really?” Derek asked with a grin and Stiles rolled his eyes.

“Wrong book Derek. How about Eloise or Rosanna?”

“Just because they are song-titles doesn’t mean the popular culture rule does not apply,” Derek responded.

Stiles smiled at his mate fondly.

“Derek – no one except you knows that Men Without Hats made more songs after the Safety Dance. We can totally get away with naming her Eloise, I promise.”

Derek shook his head again, causing Stiles to giggle when his beard tickled against his temples.

“Nope.”

Still chuckling, Stiles straightened up so he could face Derek, his hand rubbing wide circles into his mate’s stretched skin.

“I’ve got the perfect idea. Boomquifa.”

Derek’s startled laugh was interrupted by a pained moan and even Stiles winced when he felt their child starting to kick as if it was on a mission.

 

==================

_34 Weeks, February 25 th, 2027_

It seemed that fate had decided Stiles should have at least one incident of extremely bad-timing for job related reasons during each of Derek’s pregnancies, and this time it was no different.

However, unlike Derek’s first complete hormonal meltdown during Stiles’ three-day conference in Seattle when he had been 26 weeks pregnant with Leonie, the events of February 25th were decidedly more dramatic and when Derek saw Stiles next, he felt equally guilty and surprised to discover that his younger mate’s temples had actually started graying in the four days that they had been apart.

Stiles had left for a four-day conference in New York on Tuesday and Derek had laughed at him when he had started to worry, arguing that it was _him_ who should be worried, considering New York was expecting a blizzard in the next couple of days.

“Besides, I’m sure Leo-Pie is going to protect me from all evils,” he had grinned at his daughter and Leonie had demonstrated her most terrifying werewolf growl, which, if her parents were honest, actually wasn’t terrifying at all but cute nevertheless.

On Thursday Derek decided he needed to get out of the house, determined to avoid nesting as long as possible, and Peter, who had been very subdued since the incident from last week, had not protested when Derek had decided to pick Leonie up from school himself, bundled up in a thick coat that would be enough to hide his body if he stayed behind the open car-door.

Leonie was excited to see her Papa, rather than her great-uncle, and because it was a sunny, albeit chilly day, Derek let himself get talked into driving up to the playground closest to their house. It only had a slide, a sandbox, and a swing, being relatively old and a little run-down, and hardly any child ever came here, which made it possible for Derek to relax in the sunshine without constantly having to worry about prying eyes. 

Although the swing and slide were old, they were in good shape and Leonie squealed in excitement when she went down the slide again and again. The baby’s heartbeat was steady but the child was relatively calm for once and with the sun shining on his head and the happy laughter of his daughter in the background, Derek allowed himself to rest his eyes for a moment, one ear trained towards the child inside of him and the other focused on Leonie.

The playground was right next to an old road which almost never saw any cars and when Leonie’s laughter suddenly sounded farther away and he could hear the heavy engine of a large car approaching quickly, Derek’s eyes snapped open. Leonie wasn’t in his line of vision and he jerked around, his heartbeat picking up when he saw her run after a ball she had found in the sandbox, getting dangerously close to the steep hill that separated the playground from the street.

Derek felt as if his heart was going to burst out of his throat when Leonie caught her foot on a branch and stumbled, waving her hands helplessly before she tumbled over the edge of the hill and out of his sight. If he hadn’t heard the large car – a truck, most definitely a truck – approaching, Derek probably wouldn’t have panicked like he did, but he did hear the car, suddenly it was all he heard, and all of his instincts kicked into gear.

He shot off the bench he had been sitting on and raced towards the edge of the hill, forgetting the ache in his back, his heavy belly, and the slightly slippery ground, his entire being focused on his little girl and the fast-approaching truck.

He could hear the truck-driver honk as he shot over the edge, racing down the slippery grass and after Leonie, who had tumbled onto the street and was trying to get to her feet, crying out in pain even though the scrapes she had gotten when she hit the rough pavement were already healing. She whipped around towards the truck and stared at the headlights and Derek charged, grabbing her as he went and hitting the ditch on the other side hard with Leonie sprawled on top of him, his balance completely thrown off by his 8-months pregnant stomach and way too much momentum to cushion his fall.

His blood was rushing in his ears and he blindly grabbed at Leonie, his panic only rising when she didn’t stop crying in fear and he forced himself to take deep, even breaths, allowing him to realize that although she was completely terrified, his daughter was still alive and unharmed, minus the ragged holes in her pants and shirt.

The sound of the truck’s engine was dimming and Derek felt a powerful surge of anger at the driver, who had most definitely been going too fast and would have probably killed his little girl had she not been fortunate enough to have a werewolf for a father.

An 8-months pregnant werewolf father, Derek suddenly remembered when a searing pain coursed through his abdomen, taking his breath away and forcing him to cry out silently. Leonie scrambled off of him; clearly able to feel how he had suddenly tensed and arched under her tiny body and probably smelling the distress and pain coming from her father.

“Papa? Are you hurt?” she asked frantically, her tiny hands clutching at his face and Derek tried to catch his breath to answer her, to tell her to find his phone so he could call for help but another surge of pain thwarted his plans and he screamed, suddenly all too aware that the baby wasn’t moving at all and that he could barely hear the heartbeat through his own, which was rushing through his ears like a freight train.

Leonie’s hands were all over his belly, her instincts kicking in as well and he could see the beginnings of tiny black veins forming on her arms where she was trying to leach the pain from his stomach.

“Leonie, no,” Derek rasped, curling in on himself when more pain shot through his midsection and groin, one hand pressed into his belly and the other holding her hands away from him, afraid she was going to seriously hurt herself if she actually succeeded in taking some of the pain away.

The pain was blinding and all consuming, fiery and hot and feeling as if his body was tearing itself apart. Derek didn’t need Leonie’s panicked scream of “Papa, you’re bleeding!” to know that he was, his focus narrowing down to the growing wet patch between his legs and the hot trickle of blood running down his pants. The birth canal had formed prematurely and he was going into labor and if he didn’t get help he would lose the child, a thought that came to him with painful clarity.

“Leonie! Listen to me!” he gasped, forcing himself to stay as calm as possible and whimpering only slightly when the pain increased again. “I need you to get my phone out of my pocket, we need to call somebody for help. Can you do that for me baby?”

Leonie was much paler than normal but she nodded, searching his coat pocket for his phone and finally pulling it out and handing it to him. Derek’s fingers were shaking and bloody when he grabbed the phone, hitting the speed-dial button for the Sheriff and screaming in pain when it slipped from his grasp as another contraction overtook him.

Leonie reacted quickly, picking up the phone as it began to ring and when the Sheriff picked up Derek was unable to suppress his moan of pain.

“Grandpa, Papa and the baby are hurt, you need to come help me!” Leonie screeched into the phone when Derek doubled over next to her and screamed and from somewhere far away Derek heard his father-in-law snapping into complete professional mode, his voice firm when he asked her where they were.

“Playground, we’re at the playground, please Grandpa, come quickly there was a truck and there’s blood and Papa’s in pain and please help!” Leonie babbled and for a moment Derek’s vision blacked out, the pain unlike anything he had ever felt before, including being impaled on a metal stake. He couldn’t have been out longer than 20 seconds at the most but when he came to, his daughter was shaking his shoulder and crying hysterically, begging him not to die over and over.

Derek assembled all of his strength and focus when he reached out with one arm to pull her closer, mumbling “It will be ok baby, it will be ok” under his breath even though he had a hard time believing it himself when he felt more blood gush out of him. The baby still wasn’t moving and Derek desperately tried to breathe, using his daughter’s presence as an anchor.

He didn’t know how long he had been sprawled in the ditch but suddenly two strong hands were framing his belly and when he opened his eyes Scott’s red Alpha eyes were glowing as thick black veins ran up his arms. Stiles’ father must have called the animal clinic immediately, Derek thought. He was finding it harder and harder to cling to consciousness as Scott’s healing power raced through him and made him feel light-headed and from somewhere in the distance he could hear sirens. His daughter was taken away from him and he reached out to her weakly, whimpering when he could no longer touch her and then soft hands were stroking his hair, whispering words of encouragement as he finally lost consciousness.

 

=================

 

When he came to he was lying in their bed and Derek blinked slowly, confusion replaced by terror when he remembered what had happened. His hands immediately dropped to his belly and he sobbed in relief when the baby kicked, its heartbeat as strong as ever.

There was movement out of the corner of his eye and suddenly Stiles was in front of him, one hand lightly touching Derek’s belly and the other stroking his face. Derek was shocked when he got a good look at his mate.

He had seen the human on the verge of death, he had seen him in pain and he had seen him in the grasp of utter and total terror. He still remembered the wrecked look on his face when he had woken up from the accidental drug overdose almost five years ago, but throughout their entire relationship he had never seen his mate looking like this.

Stiles looked as if he hadn’t slept or eaten in days. His eyes were so bloodshot that he could have almost been mistaken for an Alpha, his cheeks were sunken in and he was paler than Derek had ever seen him, his lips looking as if he had almost bitten through them.

“Hey,” Derek said, shocked at how raspy his voice sounded.

“Derek,” Stiles breathed, before his face crumbled and he started sobbing.

Derek felt helpless as he watched his mate suffer, too weak to even lift a hand to stroke his hair and it seemed like an eternity until Stiles was finally able to speak again.

“I was at that conference,” he began, the hand on Derek’s belly shaking as much as his voice, “and I could feel my phone vibrating in my pocket but I was about to start my main presentation and I thought ‘It can wait, don’t be so paranoid all the time, everything’s fine’ so I put it in my bag. When I pulled it back out after the panel was over I had twenty missed calls and five voicemails and when I listened to the first one I heard sirens and our daughter was screaming hysterically in the background. She kept screaming “My Papa’s dead” over and over, and then my father was on the line and telling me to fucking pick up my phone, that there had been an accident and that you were in labor, unconscious, and bleeding and that I just really needed to pick up my fucking phone.”

He inhaled deeply, more tears rolling down his cheeks when he continued.

“When I finally got a hold of my father our baby was still crying in the background and he told me that Melissa had stolen an ambulance and Scott and Deaton were trying to stop the labor and that I needed to come home immediately. Of course I was already in a taxi to the airport at that point, so that was a moot suggestion.”

“When I got to the airport I was informed that all flights out to the West Coast were cancelled because of that fucking blizzard and I think I had a panic attack, I’m not sure, but then my phone rang again and it was Scott and he was telling me that they had managed to stop the labor but that you weren’t waking up and I should hurry back.”

He swallowed.

“I think the authorities were just about to throw me out of JFK, I screamed at them, I cursed at them, I threatened them, but they kept telling me there was nothing they could do, that we had to wait until the weather cleared up at least a little and I paced around that terminal for almost 20 hours, with no possible way of getting to you. I was going to rent a car but the agents refused, saying that there was no way they were letting anyone drive out there in that weather, let alone someone who was freaking out like me.”

“I finally boarded the first plane out to San Francisco and Lydia picked me up and we drove here as fast as we could, but you still weren’t waking up. Derek, you just didn’t wake up,” he whispered and Derek swallowed.

“I’m sorry,” he tried but Stiles shook his head.

“No, _I’m_ sorry. I’m sorry I left you guys alone to go to that conference, I should have never gone there. Derek, my love, if it hadn’t been for you my baby girl would be dead right now and that would have killed me, do you understand me?”

He pressed soft kisses all over Derek’s face, his tears dropping onto Derek’s chapped lips.

“You, Leo-Pie and the baby are my world and I almost lost all three of you four days ago,” he whispered and Derek hissed in surprise.

“Four days? I was unconscious for four days?” he asked and Stiles nodded.

“I got here about 36 hours after the accident and then I just sat here and waited for you to wake up. I was afraid you weren’t going to,” Stiles said softly and Derek’s eyes widened in alarm when the full implications of the new information hit him.

“Where’s Leonie. She must be scared out of her mind,” he asked frantically, trying to push himself up on his elbows and attempting to throw Stiles’ arms off when he gently pushed him back into the cushions.

“Leonie is fine. Well, she is not fine-fine of course, she’s been crying for you for four days, but she’s healthy and not injured. You really did save her life Papa-Wolf and there is nothing in the world that I could ever give to you that would come close to expressing just how grateful I am to you and how much I love you.”

He stroked Derek’s belly lightly.

“The little one is fine too, Scott says the heartbeat sounds strong and healthy. You, on the other hand have been put on strict bed-rest until she’s born, per orders of Melissa and Deaton. Deaton believes that the birth canal only forms when the baby is ready to be born and the combination of all that adrenaline and the hard fall tricked your body into believing that it would be safest for you and the child to give birth right there in that ditch, therefore, the birth canal formed and it was basically a miracle that Scott and Deaton were able to stop the labor at all. Your body is maintaining a status quo for now, with the birth canal still open and ready, but the baby still inside and in order for that to stay that way you are not allowed on your feet at all until she’s born. Melissa even wanted to hook you up to a catheter so you wouldn’t even need go to the bathroom but Deaton figures that that might not be necessary since you _are_ a werewolf after all and we could maybe allow you that minimal bit of movement.”

Derek took a minute to absorb the information before nodding; closing his eyes briefly when the thought of what could have happened threatened to overwhelm him.

“Can I see Leonie?” he asked when he opened his eyes again and Stiles smiled.

“Of course you can Savior Wolf,” he said quietly and because he was still exhausted Derek closed his eyes again, opening them slowly when the door opened and Leonie tiptoed into the room, smiling at her when Stiles lifted her onto the bed.

She looked tired and frail, dark shadows under her eyes that spoke of many nightmares and if he had been able to, Derek would have shaken his head at his mate and his declaration of their daughter being “fine.”

“Hey baby,” he addressed her and Leonie whimpered before she crawled up into the crook of his arm and curled into his side, her tiny body shivering as she cried softly.

“I thought you were dead Papa,” she whispered in his ear and Derek turned his head slightly to press a kiss on her tussled hair.

“I’m fine baby, I’m fine. You did so good my love,” he praised her, “you did so good with protecting me and the baby when we needed your help. I’m so proud of you baby, I love you so much,” he continued, and Leonie sniffled.

“Is Noah ok, too?” she asked, her hand resting on the side of Derek’s belly and when he looked at Stiles in confusion his mate smiled through another bout of tears.

“She’s been calling the baby Noah ever since I got here. I actually quite like it. It’s maybe a little unusual as a girls-name, but not unheard of either,” he said quietly and Derek repeated the name softly, amazed at how right it sounded.

“Noah is fine,” he told Leonie, smiling when she pressed her nose into his belly to take a good sniff herself.

“Noah says she loves you very much,” he continued and they almost missed the quiet “Noah’s a boy Papa,” that Leonie mumbled into his skin.

“Well, I think we just found a name but we still need to work on that pesky gender issue,” Stiles smiled gently and Derek closed his eyes, still feeling exhausted but very grateful that his babies were both still alive and healthy.

 

==============

 

At the end of his first full day of bed rest Derek was already convinced he was about to lose his mind, not sure how he should endure at least three to four more weeks of it. Deaton had been a little stumped that a werewolf with self-healing abilities would need bed rest in the first place but conceded that the laws of werewolf biology were maybe a little different if one had to consider magical uteruses and prematurely formed birth canals.

Leonie had refused to leave his side and she was currently sleeping next to him, her calm breathing the first good night’s sleep she had apparently gotten in four days. Derek wasn’t sure how they would convince her to go back to preschool the next day but figured that it might help if she wasn’t so sleep-deprived and scared.

There had been a long line of visitors since he had woken up, the first one being Melissa, who had stopped by on her way to work and smiled modestly when Derek had complimented her on actually managing to steal an ambulance and returning it without creating too much of a fuss.

“Well, you know, it helps if the Sheriff is your co-conspirator, also, my superiors were quite understanding when I argued that every nurse should have driven an ambulance at least once, given the high frequency of disasters in this town,” she had smiled before taking his hand in hers gently.

“That was a really brave, parental thing you did honey, I’m very proud of you and I can’t tell you how grateful I am to you for saving my little granddaughter. I’m also a little mad that you almost got yourself killed in the process, but I’m mostly proud.”

The Sheriff had found equal words of praise after he had finished ranting about careless drivers and grilling Derek for license plate information and descriptions of the truck and driver.

Isaac had stopped by with a knitting book full of scarf patterns and had sheepishly suggested that Derek should try his hand at that if he ever got bored. Derek had thanked him politely, certain that he would never be bored enough to try his hand at knitting a scarf for his curly-haired Beta, who owned far too many of them as it was.

He had taken a nap after Isaac’s visit and woken up to the sound of Erica’s heels clicking as she paced his and Stiles’ bedroom, with Boyd a calming presence in the background as always.

“What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be on vacation?” Derek had asked and Erica had snorted.

“Oh yes Derek,” she had said grimly, looking jet-lagged and also a little annoyed. “Everyone in their right mind would say “Thanks for letting me know, bye now, I need to go hit the beach” after getting a text message from Beacon Hill’s one and only True Texting Failwolf that only says “Leonie, truck, baby in danger, Derek in labor, not waking up”. Of course, Melissa and Deaton said that him using verbs was actually an improvement to his normal texting style, so I guess we should feel special.”

She had inhaled sharply, looking like she had to blink back tears, and then shaken her blond curls resolutely before hesitantly placing a hand on Derek’s stomach.

“Besides, our rental car got totaled by a jumping kangaroo in the middle of nowhere and when Boyd got outside to shush it away it boxed him in the nose. It was about time we got home anyways,” she had continued, trying to smile convincingly and failing miserably.  

Allison and Scott had stopped by with Mikey around dinner-time, bringing boxes of take-out for the entire family and they had talked about anything and everything, Derek’s unspoken words of gratitude just as well understood as Scott’s inability to express the horror he had felt at the sight that had greeted him in the ditch.

Cora had decided to drop half of her classes so she could come and stay with Derek and Stiles for a bit and only had to actually be in Berkeley for one day a week, taking over Peter’s Leonie-Duties and making sure her brother was taken care of. Derek and Stiles had put up a token protest but secretly been grateful, trusting her much more than Peter.

All in all it had been a busy day but he felt restless, not used to lying in bed without doing anything when he was awake. However, every time he felt about complaining his mind flashed back to the accident and he swallowed his words, well aware he could be grateful that the baby was still healthy.

The next morning Leonie’s protest at leaving her papa had been a bit on the dramatic side, as expected, and Derek had sighed when he could hear her screaming all the way out of the door and into the car, as well as Cora’s muffled curses.

“Are we cruel parents?” he had asked Stiles and Stiles had shrugged.

“We obviously can’t let her develop a phobia of leaving you alone either, so I guess I don’t know? Parenting is _hard_ ,” he had muttered, sighing when he had to adjust his tie for the fourth time that morning, his mind clearly occupied elsewhere.

Derek had barely been alone for half an hour when Peter had shown up with a gigantic get-well basket, filled to the brim with the salty snacks Derek had been craving for months.

“I guess one could say it doubles as a get-well basket and ‘I’m a gigantic asshole’ apology basket, take your pick Derek,” he had said and Derek had nodded, still not sure if the relationship between them would ever return to normal.

He had been happy to see his baby girl again when Cora brought her back from school and about an hour later Jackson and Julia had shown up, brimming with excitement over their big news.

“It’s a girl, Derek!” Jackson had all but shouted as he walked through the door, almost dragging his pregnant fiancé with him.

“I’m having a little princess of my own!” he had continued, stopping himself immediately when Derek had raised his eyebrows and Leonie had crossed her arms over her tiny chest.

“Of course you are my princess, too,” he had hastily corrected himself, picking Leonie up and twirling her around.

“You will have to tell her all there is to know about being the most beautiful princess on the planet, alright?” he had whispered conspiratorially and Leonie had nodded.

“Yes, and when she is old enough she can marry Noah!” she had declared.

Jackson had raised his eyebrows in confusion.

“Noah? Who is this Noah?”

“Noah is my brother!” Leonie had answered exasperatedly, rolling her eyes once again in that perfect Derek imitation.

“Still going on about that little brother then?” Jackson had directed towards Derek, who had sighed, his hands lightly stroking his stomach.

“I think we’ve given up on trying to convince her otherwise, she’s determined. At this point I’m just hoping she’ll be so enamored with her little sister after she’s born that she’ll just forget about the whole little brother thing completely,” Derek had mused and Julia had grinned.

“You know, 99.5 percent is pretty certain, but there are still those lingering 0.5 percent of doubt,” she had teased and Derek had sighed dramatically.

“You can join my daughter and Erica on Team Boy then, the rest actually believes that Deaton is competent every now and then … of course Erica is only on Team Boy on principle because she’s still upset she lost the betting pool last time,” he had said and the adults had snorted in unison.

The next three weeks passed by relatively uneventfully, with the exception of two bouts of Braxton Hicks that no one was taking lightly at this point. However, the baby stayed put and Derek loathed to admit he had actually finished not one but five scarves for Isaac, quickly discovering that boredom took on a whole new dimension when one was confined to a bedroom and an adjacent bathroom for three weeks in a row.

He had also become rather creative when it came to playing with Leonie, glad that she was so knowledgeable about fairy tales and most decidedly grateful that so many of them featured sleeping characters or characters in a bed.

The first play they had re-enacted had been _Sleeping Beauty_ , with Leonie playing all the fairies and the prince while Derek wore a paper crown as Sleeping Beauty. _The Princess and the Pea_ had been next, a role that Derek had taken to enthusiastically since his back actually did hurt all the time now, his constantly prone position not helping one tiny bit, and of course _Snow White and the Seven Dwarves_. Derek was actually quite impressed that his daughter was creative enough to bring seven different dwarves to life, certain that he had discovered another character trait that she had gotten from her human father.

The irrefutable highlight, however, had of course been the dramatic staging of _Red Riding Hood_ and Derek had barely been able to keep himself from growling in protest throughout the entire performance, equal parts scandalized and amused at his werewolf daughter jumping up and down in front of him in a little red cape and inspecting his nose, ears, and mouth for signs that he was actually the big bad wolf.

He might or might not have elongated his teeth for her benefit.

 

=============

_39 Weeks, March 31 st, 2027_

Against Deaton and Melissa’s predictions, Derek was still pregnant on March 31st, his fifth consecutive week on bed rest. He had been incredibly restless the entire day, actually finishing his tenth scarf that morning, although he was beginning to wonder if anyone would ever wear them, seeing that Isaac seemed to violently disagree with his ideas of which colors went well together.

Leonie came home from school at 3:30 PM and Stiles came home from work at 5:00 PM, having finished a project much earlier than he had thought. He was busy helping Cora with making dinner around 7:00 and in order to keep Leonie out of their hair, Derek found himself starring as yet another evil wolf from fairy tale history.

There was flour all over the bed and Derek’s hands, a necessary evil if one wanted to convincingly portray the wolf out of _The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats_ and keep one’s almost four-year-old daughter happy. They had just gotten to the part where the wolf woke up and realized that his heavy belly was filled with stones instead of goats, and although Derek rejected the fairy tale on principle, well aware that in some versions the wolf actually ate six little kids, he definitely emphasized with the sensation.

“What rumbles and tumbles inside of me. I thought it was goats but it’s stones that they be,” he cried as dramatically as he could, enjoying the happy giggles of his daughter. He was about to continue his role and demand that she fetch him a glass of water, when his belly suddenly cramped up for real and wetness quickly began to spread between his legs.

“Papa! You wet the bed!” Leonie exclaimed, obviously not sure if she should be scandalized or respond as if it was the most hysterical thing she had ever seen. Derek took a deep breath and counted to ten, not wanting to scare his daughter yet again.

“Stiles?” he called out, whispering, “I think I’m in labor” under his breath for Cora’s benefit. Two sets of feet suddenly rushed up the stairs and both his sister and Stiles looked panicky when they barged inside. Derek rolled his eyes and pointed towards Leonie, who was looking between them in confusion.

“The wolf ate six goats and then he wet the bed,” she informed her daddy and aunt and Derek would have laughed if he hadn’t been afraid he might have actually ended up peeing the bed for real.

“Tell you what Leo-Pie, you and me are going to finish the fairy tale and then Auntie Cora is going to take you to your grandfather, alright?” he asked her and Leonie looked unsure, clearly able to hear her daddy’s rapidly rising heartbeat.

“Stiles!” Derek said firmly, his eyes fixed on his mate. “I’m currently a big bad wolf with heavy stones in my belly and I would really like for the lovely Mother Goat over there to finish telling me this story so we can go and do something about these stones, because they kind of hurt. Would that be ok with you?” he asked and Stiles shook his head as if in a daze before snapping out of his panic mode.

“Of course! I’m sorry Mother Goat; please continue the story. May I watch?” he addressed their daughter and Leonie nodded, her attention focused back on her papa.

Cora had gone back downstairs to call Deaton and Melissa by the time Leonie finished her story and the wolf had tumbled down into the well and when Stiles urged her to say bye to her papa, Leonie climbed onto the bed and put her hand on Derek’s stomach, frowning when she felt the muscles contract under her hand.

“Are you alright Papa?” she asked, concern evident in her voice and Derek found himself able to smile through the pain, although it cost him a bit of effort.

“I’m alright baby-girl. But I think Noah finally wants to come out and meet you and it’s going to take a little while so we need you to stay with your grandpa for a bit, do you understand?” he asked and Leonie nodded.

“Don’t be mean to Papa, he’s actually not a bad wolf, he’s the best Papa-Wolf,” she addressed his belly, patting the round dome gently and Derek swallowed, his eyes brimming with tears that were not at all caused by his physical discomfort.

“Do you think this one will be just as perfect?” he asked Stiles after Cora and Leonie had left and Stiles placed a hand on his stomach and kissed him gently, his eyes speaking both of concern and excitement.

“With such an awesome big sister as a role model, I can’t see why not,” he replied, grinning brightly before clapping his hands.

“Now, oh best Papa-Wolf of all, what do you say about de-flouring the bed and changing the sheets so you don’t have to lie in that sticky wetness.”

Derek closed his eyes and waited, counting one, two, three breaths until …

“Oh my god, I’m the _King_ of puns, I tell you! I’m awesome!”

 

================

 

Five hours later Derek found himself disagreeing with Stiles – violently so. His mate was not awesome at all. If anything, he was an evil torturer; a demon from one of his beloved fantasy shows hell-bent on luring him inside his lair with mind blowing sex and then putting him through pure and utter agony every three to four years.

Since the birth canal had essentially been open for five weeks and male werewolf pregnancy laws apparently dictated that a second birth should go much quicker than the first, Derek had barely had time to rest between wave after wave of contractions, each one coming closer to the next and getting more and more intense every time.

He had seriously considered biting Stiles’ hand off when his mate had tried to wipe the sweat off of his brow with a wet cloth and happily exclaimed that it was ten minutes after midnight, which meant that it was April the 1st.

“It really is a trickster baby Derek, it’s an April Fool’s baby, I love it! Good thing you kept your legs pressed together for so long, this is just the perfect day for a birth!” he had exclaimed, barely able to react in time when Derek had actually snapped at him with his teeth, the rest of his body currently busy with clenching in pain.

Derek was beyond exhausted but extremely relieved when Melissa declared he was ready to push, ordering Stiles to pick up one of his legs and hold it while Deaton was in charge of the other, clearly excited to have been allowed to observe the birth from a closer angle this time. Derek would have asked him how he wanted to take notes in his little black book like that, had he not been so busy pushing a baby out of a magical birth canal and howling like his life depended on it.

“You are doing so great honey, I can already see the head, it’s going to be over soon,” Melissa encouraged and Derek forced himself to take deep breaths, trying to remember what he had seen in the Lamaze class DVDs he had watched out of bored desperation last week. Stiles was huffing along with him, his free hand clutching Derek’s in a firm grip and when he felt the next urge to push Derek squeezed his eyes shut, gasping for breath when he felt the baby’s head breach the opening and panting when Melissa gently guided the shoulders out as well.

His gasps turned into breathless laughter when the baby began to cry and he flopped backwards, barely aware that Deaton and Stiles had carefully set his legs down. Stiles was pressing kisses all over his hand and forehead, tears running down his cheeks and grinning brightly.

“I love you so much Derek, she’s here, she’s finally here!” he whispered and both men turned to look at Melissa expectantly when she cleared her throat.

“Uhm … Alan?” she asked pointedly, holding the baby out to the vet and raising her eyebrows.

“Would you like to do the honors?” she continued and Deaton nodded enthusiastically, opening his mouth and … closing it with a snap, his eyes going wide and his eyebrows rising to his hairline.

“It’s … not a girl,” he finally said, almost painful embarrassment evident in his voice.

“What do you mean, it’s not a girl?” Stiles exclaimed, dropping Derek’s hand and rushing to the other side of the bed, squeezing himself between Melissa and Deaton and staring.

“What is it then?” he asked, his cheeks coloring with embarrassment before he had even closed his mouth and studiously ignoring Melissa’s baffled look that screamed “Really Stiles, _really_?”

“It’s a boy!” Derek whispered, the tears he had so far managed to hold in finally rolling down his cheeks.

“Leonie has a little brother,” he continued, not able to stop the happy laughter bubbling up inside of him.

“I have a son …” Stiles whispered, his face still looking flabbergasted but his voice full of awe as he took the baby from Melissa and nestled him in his arms.

“Derek look, we have a son!” he said louder, his grin reappearing with a vengeance.

“99.5 percent, hmmm?” he mumbled in wonder, his eyes glued to their little boy.

Deaton cleared his throat and looked at the wall, obviously too embarrassed to face either of the new parents when he muttered, “Can’t believe I … this is a first I assure you … I have no words, I … it’s _not_ a girl,” he repeated helplessly and if Derek hadn’t been certain that breaking out into a full belly laugh this close after giving birth would have hurt like a bitch he probably would have done so, having decided that Deaton’s loss of composure when first faced with his breasts and birth canal was _nothing_ compared to the glorious sight of his mother’s former emissary helplessly stuttering and wringing his hands in embarrassment.

“If you are all done making sure that he is in fact a boy, could I please hold Noah now?” he asked impatiently and Stiles immediately walked over to him, carefully placing the baby in Derek’s arms.

“So that’s his name? Is that final? You are not going to have another naming-epiphany here in a bit?” Melissa asked and both Derek and Stiles looked at the baby carefully before smiling at each other.

“Nope, that’s definitely his name,” Stiles decided and Derek nodded firmly.

“Oh thank god, I was going to hurt you if you pulled a name-switcheroo on me _again_!” she exclaimed with a grin on her face and both fathers looked at her in confusion.

“What do you mean?” Stiles asked and Melissa crossed her arms over her chest.

“Let’s just say that there is a beautiful home-made, name-customized baby-blanket sitting in my attic right now and I’ve been waiting for friends of mine – or some random strangers, really – to name their child Leanore since June 26th of 2023,” she explained, smiling in satisfaction when both men winced.

“He’s definitely a Noah,” Derek repeated, kissing the boy’s brow softly and Stiles walked over to Melissa to give her a peck on the cheek.

“Hold on to that blanket for now, maybe we’ll name the next one Leanore,” he promised and Derek huffed.

“ _If_ there is a next one – and right now I’m not promising anything here, given that my entire groin area feels like the aftermath of the Battle of Waterloo – you can bet that we will not have a Leonie _and_ a Leanore,” he declared before focusing his attention on his newborn son again.

“You’re a trickster baby alright,” Derek whispered when the infant caught his finger in a strong grip, inhaling in surprise when their son opened his baby-blue eyes.

“You’re also not a werewolf,” Derek realized and Stiles exhaled sharply, climbing onto the bed and staring at their son in confusion.

“He’s not?” he asked, sounding like the thought of them having a human baby had never actually entered his mind.

“He’s not. He’s a handsome, tiny, perfect little human baby boy. And he looks exactly like you,” Derek confirmed and Stiles made a surprised meep-sound.

“It’s not that I’m upset that he’s human – also, you’re delirious, that baby is the spitting image of you – but … is that going to be a problem? That he’s not a wolf, I mean?” he wondered, concern tinting his voice and Derek shook his head with a soft smile.

“Of course not. There were lots of humans in my family, remember? And besides, he’s going to have an overprotective big sister who I’m certain will volunteer to beat up anybody who so much as looks at him the wrong way on the playground.”

He beamed at the baby, leaning down to kiss his soft, bald little head.

“Your big sister is actually the smartest person in our family, she always believed in the 0.5 percent,” he whispered, grinning when he heard Deaton’s heartbeat rise again. The vet was not going to live that one down for quite some time as far as Derek was concerned.

“Oh god Derek, she will be _so_ excited when she gets to meet him!” Stiles exclaimed, and Derek was not at all surprised when his mate’s heartbeat suddenly skyrocketed, having expected something similar to the Jacob-John Freak-Out of 2023 ever since he had gone into labor.

“Derek! What if she actually _wants_ to have a little sister now?!” Stiles moaned and Derek smiled gratefully at Melissa when she walked up to his mate and slapped the back of his head.

“ _Not_ the right time! Also, it’s too late now,” she admonished him, grinning at Derek when she walked over to him.

“Ah, that felt good, I _really_ wanted to do that last time as well,” she commented, before holding out her arms for the little boy with a gentle smile.

“Can I go check that this little man is as healthy and happy as can be?” she asked and Derek nodded, handing the baby over and relaxing back into the mattress.

“You know what the first thing is that I’m going to do once I’m done with the after-birth and all that grossness?” he asked and Stiles shook his head, his gaze switching between Derek and their baby boy.

“I’m going to go outside and jump around in the garden for five minutes, no matter how much it may hurt. I’m _done_ lying in this bed!”

 

==================

 

Derek wasn’t so much as jumping around but rather standing in their garden, Stiles discovered when he walked outside to join his mate, holding Noah, who was tightly bundled up in a bright pink blanket, against his chest.

“There’s one bad thing about him being a boy though,” he mused, smiling softly when Derek snuggled up against his back, his chin hooked on his shoulder and his fingers stroking the baby’s cheek.

“What’s that?” the werewolf asked, sounding like he actually didn’t have a care in the world.

“We have absolutely no clothes for him, but there are at least twenty brand-new baby girl dresses hanging in the nursery closet.”

Derek chuckled quietly.

“Well, Jackson and Julia will be pleased to have them and I’m certain that between your father bankrupting himself on little boys clothes and Scott and Allison throwing boxes of their hand-me-downs at us, we’ll manage just fine. And besides, I think pink goes very well with his skin color,” Derek added, kissing Stiles’ cheek with affection.

“Also, it’s not like we don’t have enough gender-neutral clothes, I was quite adamant about our daughter getting to wear something _besides_ pink if you recall,” he added and Stiles grinned.

“I remember vividly. Speaking of our daughter, I almost want to go get her right now, I can’t wait for her to see him and realize she was right. Can we go get her right now Derek?”

Derek laughed.

“It’s 3 AM, if we wake her up now not even the fact that she did get her little brother after all will appease her. And besides …” he mused, stepping around Stiles so he could take their son into his arms, “I think I would like to take advantage of the short time we have left until Leo-Pie gets here and attaches herself to him permanently to get to say hello for myself.”

He shifted the baby in his arms to get a better look at his face and kissed his forehead.

“I can go get her at 7 AM though, right?” Stiles tried again and Derek laughed when he watched his mate hide a yawn behind his hands.

“If you are still awake by 7 then by all means, go get her then.”

“I will absolutely be awake at 7, I feel so hyper and happy right now I don’t think I’ll ever sleep again, to be honest,” Stiles replied, wrapping his arms around Derek and staring at their son in adoration.

“You know what today is by the way?” he asked and Derek chuckled.

“I’m not even going to answer, because I have a feeling I’ll get it wrong anyways. Tell me, what day is it, you know, besides our son’s birthday?”

He could feel Stiles’ mouth curve into a large smile.

“It’s Thursday. Which means that we could _totally_ get away with giving him the name Castiel as a second middle name. Castiel is the Angel of Thursday and Noah Janek Castiel Hale has a really nice ring to it, don’t you think? Besides, I don’t want him to feel less loved because Leo-Pie has three names and he only has two.”

Derek snorted and dropped his head back against his mate’s shoulder with a deep sigh.

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t just hear you try to name our son after yet another fictional character on television. Also, if I didn’t have our son in my arms right now I would probably kick you because of all the _fan fictions_ , just so you know.”

Stiles shrugged.

“You should have thought about that when you went and mated yourself to a fanboy. It comes with the territory.”

Derek closed his eyes and smiled contentedly. He had thought about it – and it was a decision he had never regretted.

 

=================

 

As predicted by Derek, Stiles crashed hard around 4, the nervous energy and excitement replaced with deep fatigue and therefore their daughter didn’t come back until 9, brimming with excitement and jumping up and down in her grandfather’s arms as he carried her up to her parents’ bedroom, followed by an amused Cora.

“Daddy, Papa, where is my baby?” Leonie squealed from outside when the Sheriff knocked on the door and Stiles, who had been asleep until five minutes prior and was still dressed in his wrinkled work clothes from the day before, got up to open the door, making a good-natured oof-sound when he was greeted with an armful of over-excited little werewolf.

“Hey Leo-Pie! I missed you baby! Noah has been waiting for you for almost seven hours!” he grinned and Leonie wiggled out of his arms, having spotted her papa, who was sitting in the rocking chair by the window and was patting the baby’s back, having just finished nursing him.

“Come say hi Leonie, don’t be shy,” he smiled when their little girl didn’t make an effort to move, her eyes wide as saucers.

Stiles gave her a gentle nudge and she tiptoed forwards as Derek readjusted the baby in his arms so that he could reach down and place Leonie on his lap without jostling Noah. Leonie reached out her hand hesitantly and when Derek nodded she reached forward until Noah grabbed a hold of her finger, giggling in surprise at the baby’s strong grip.

“Is that my little brother?” she asked in awe and before the Sheriff or Cora could open their mouths to interrupt, Derek nodded.

“Yes baby, this is your little brother Noah. Everyone, meet our little 0.5 percent baby: Noah Janek Hale, born at 1:26 AM on April 1st.”

“Oh my god!” Cora whispered, rushing over to Derek’s side so she could get a closer look at her nephew.

“It’s a boy, really? After we all just spent almost five months trying to convince Leonie that she is going to have a sister it’s really a brother?” the Sheriff exclaimed and Stiles nodded with a grin.

“He’s a little trickster baby, I’ve been saying it for months. Yes, Dad, I have a son!” he smiled; grin widening when the Sheriff pulled him into a bone-crushing hug.

“Janek?” he whispered into Stiles’ ear and Stiles patted his father’s shoulder.

“Yes Dad. It was Derek’s idea,” he said softly and Derek smiled when John’s teary eyes met his.

“Don’t you want to come say hi to your grandson?” he asked and the Sheriff walked over quickly, accepting the baby and cradling him to his chest with a look of wonder on his face.

“He looks exactly like Stiles,” he observed and Derek grinned.

“That’s what I’ve been saying for hours but your son won’t listen.”

Stiles snorted. “First of all, I was asleep for at least 5 of these hours, you could have been saying anything during that time and I would have been none the wiser. Secondly, he totally has Derek’s eyes and chin, you’d have to be blind not to see that.”

The Sheriff grinned.

“True as that may be, his last name might be Hale but that kid is a Stilinski, there is no doubt about it.”

 

================

 

_April 1 st, 2027, 9:00 PM_

Derek was tired, but incredibly happy, when the last member of the pack had left and they were finally alone.

Scott, Allison, and Mikey had shown up after Stiles’ father and Derek had barely been able to contain his laughter when Scott had reported that Deaton was currently sitting in front of the ultrasound machine with a bottle of whiskey and a magnifying glass, muttering “I can’t believe I missed _that,_ ” over and over.

14 months old Mikey had been absolutely fascinated with the baby and Stiles had nudged Scott’s shoulder as they watched their sons getting acquainted with each other, imagining a long and exciting friendship for the two of them.

Julia had been excited to meet Noah and even more excited about the gorgeous little dresses and Jackson had shaken his head fondly, his attention equally focused on Leonie, who was explaining the wonders of having a little brother to him in detail, and the little brother himself, whom he cradled with a blissful smile on his face.

Derek’s eyes met Julia’s and they shared a conspiratorial smile, each of them eager to see the look on Jackson’s face when it would be his own child.

Isaac, it turned out, actually did like the last scarf Derek had knitted for him. He was also in absolute agreement with his Alpha that the baby looked like a miniature Stiles, shrugging at the human when he had lamented that no one was ever on his side anymore.

Erica had flat-out refused to believe them Noah was a boy at first.

“Haha, yeah right Derek. I can read a calendar; I know what day it is. This has Stiles’ idea of an April Fool’s joke written all over it,” she had argued, shaking her head until Derek had offered that she could change his diaper, an offer that Erica had refused gladly, muttering “This is just an elaborate prank,” under her breath until Boyd, who had had no qualms about changing the baby, had cleared his throat and muttered, “I’ll be damned. A girl with a penis.”

Erica’s excitement had almost eclipsed Leonie’s after that.

“I won the betting pool, I finally won the betting pool!” she had triumphed, ignoring Derek’s gentle “If anything, you _and_ my daughter won the betting pool,” and Stiles’ amused “Not that we had a betting pool to begin with, really.”

“Details,” she had brushed their concerns aside, picking up Leonie and twirling her around with a beaming smile.

“What do you say Monkey Pie, do you want to go to Disneyland with your Auntie Erica for an entire “Girls Just Know What’s Up”-Day to celebrate that you and me were right?” she asked and Leonie nodded enthusiastically, quite possibly not fully understanding the occasion but eager to get to spend an entire day with her wildest aunt.

“Great! Derek, Stiles, I’m stealing your kid, you’ve got another one now, it should be fine, right?” had Erica grinned and Derek had emitted just the barest hint of a growl, clearly not in the hormonal state to be able to fully appreciate Erica’s humor yet.

Peter had shown up soon after, the harsh lines of his face replaced with a soft expression.

“Finally another little Hale boy, who would have thought,” he muttered when he got his first look at the baby, hesitantly reaching out to stroke his little foot.

“It’s a good thing you got here Noah, you can hold the fort for me while I’m gone, alright baby boy?” he continued and Derek and Stiles looked at him in confusion.

“Gone? Where are you going?” Derek asked and Peter sighed.

“It has occurred to me that I have spent almost my entire life in Beacon Hills, and far too many year were spent in a solitary hospital room. I want to explore, see a little bit more of the world before I hang up my pelt for good.”

He smiled at Derek, but it was forced.

“Besides, you know how they always say that absence makes the heart grow fonder. I’m hoping that might actually be true,” he said quietly.

Derek sighed.

“It might,” he offered, a soft smile on his lips when Leonie tugged at Peter’s pants and demanded to be picked up, snuggling into her great-uncle and whispering “I’ll miss you!” into his ear.

“Just don’t forget you _do_ have family here, alright?” Derek added and Peter nodded, the barest hint of a genuine smile visible on his face.

After Derek had gotten off the phone with Lydia, who had a business meeting in Los Angeles the next day and promised that she would drive back up as soon as it was over, threatening to bring sacks full of trendy little boys clothes from the countless boutiques in Hollywood, it was almost 9 PM and while Stiles prepared a little snack for their daughter and themselves downstairs, Derek nursed Noah, patiently explaining to his daughter what he was doing.

“Does it taste like real milk?” Leonie wondered, curiously sipping her own glass of milk that Stiles had brought up and before Derek could answer Stiles already nodded enthusiastically.

“Of course it does Leo-Pie, it _is_ real milk,” he grinned.

“How do _you_ know? You’re not a baby!” Leonie shot back and Stiles’ smile wavered.

“Uhm …. Uhm ….,” he began, helplessly looking at Derek, whose shoulders were shaking with suppressed laughter even though he was trying to glare, mouthing, “No! Just no!” at his mate.

“Uhm … I just know Leo-Pie. Daddy’s smart that way, just like you are … too smart, while we’re at it.”

“Aunt Lydia says you can _never_ be too smart,” Leonie mused, her attention once again focused on her brother and Stiles exhaled in relief, muttering “It was only _one_ time and it was an _accident,_ ” under his breath.

When Noah was burped and freshly changed Derek rolled on his side and laid the baby next to him, stroking his little tummy softly.

Leonie was curled up against Stiles’ chest, her hand holding her brother’s in a tight grip.

“He smells like Daddy,” she commented sleepily and Derek nodded.

“He’s not a werewolf, baby girl,” he explained and Leonie shrugged.

“That’s ok, he can be magic, like Daddy,” she decided, the matter obviously closed to her.

“Papa?” she asked next, even while her eyes were already falling shut.

“Yes Leonie?” Derek answered, his heart swelling with love when he saw that Leonie was still holding on to her brother even though she was barely awake.

“Noah says he wants a little sister next,” Leonie yawned and Stiles chuckled behind her.

“A little sister named Rainbow Dash, perhaps?” he asked and Leonie sniffed.

“Silly Daddy, Rainbow Dash is a pony, _everyone_ knows that,” she mumbled, her eyes closing as she drifted off to sleep.

“Well Derek, you heard our child. Our son demands a little sister, I suggest we get right to it – ravish me!” Stiles whispered when he was certain both of their children were asleep, his eyes shining with amusement.

“Yes,” Derek deadpanned, “and then that little sister will want a little brother, and Leonie will want another sister, or maybe a brother, or both, and Noah might want a pony, or a cat, or a dog, or a llama, or maybe all at the same time. Yes Stiles, family-planning based on our children’s demands sounds perfectly reasonable to me as well,” he finished, shaking his head at his mate with a soft chuckle.

Stiles grinned. “Well, I do remember making a bet with Scott that I could talk you into at least three,” he mused and Derek’s free hand dropped towards his stomach, which was still round and swollen, albeit no longer as firm.

“One more,” he agreed, smiling at his children when Noah made a soft noise in his sleep and Leonie’s hand on his tightened in response.

“Not for a while though, I think I’m perfectly happy with the way things are for now,” he continued and Stiles reached out his hand so he could intertwine it with Derek’s, his thumb gently caressing the older man’s skin.

“Good. I still haven’t given up on my little Jacob John, you know,” he grinned.

As far as Stiles was concerned, using your own children as a shield against their shin-kicking-happy werewolf father was a prime example of parenting done right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... did I fool at least one of you into thinking the baby would be another girl? Please tell me I did! ;-).
> 
> Concerning Mayo Head: Apparently, this child really does exist and I can only shake my head at the cruelty. 
> 
> Also, let me share with you the most horrible name of a person I actually know for certain exists: Elefunz Maria (who, I might add, is a man in his mid-fifties now). Seriously, there are no words for the horrors of this name and the torment at school. 
> 
> And because I feel like it ... here's a sneak peak at the next story I've got lined up, which will be titled "The Rule of Three" and can be expected at some point next month probably:
> 
> Stiles threw his head back and started laughing, ignoring the disbelieving grimaces of the pack around him.
> 
> “Derek my love, did you hear that? You can never make fun of me for my taste in baby names ever again, I’m merely a young Padawan to Jackson’s Jedi Master of truly atrocious baby names.”
> 
> He grinned at Isaac, who had just walked outside and handed him a new drink.  
> Isaac, who loved the pack children but was usually rather awkward around them and felt a little like the odd ball among his baby-crazy pack mates, shrugged.
> 
> “He’s just really excited she’s finally here and wanted that to be reflected in her name. I think it’s endearing."
> 
> .........
> 
> That being said, If there is anything you want to see in the next installment, tell me on here or on http://kaliopeshipsit.tumblr.com/ :)

**Author's Note:**

> As you can tell, the pacing with this one is a bit different, since I only covered a time-span of seven weeks in the first half of the story, but hey, I believe in diversity ;-). 
> 
> One word about Jackson and Lydia and why they didn't work out in the Alliteration-Verse, even though Stiles and Derek, Erica and Boyd, and Scott and Allison essentially stayed with their High-School Sweethearts (figuratively speaking in Derek's case). I know my fair share of High School Sweethearts, but I know even more people who plead temporary insanity when someone reminds them of their High School Sweethearts. 
> 
> Derek and Stiles are obviously a given and Scott is such a hopeless romantic and was so gaga over Allison in Canon that I feel justified in letting them stay together, events of Season 3B be damned (which I'm also gleefully ignoring here, and shall forever continue to do so, just FYI). Erica and Boyd deserve all the happiness they can get after what happened to them in Canon so that's my reasoning here, but Lydia and Jackson .... naaaaah. I'd always choose them if I had to break up one of the couples. I'm not going to say I think Lydia can do better, I obviously have a soft spot for Jackson which I channel through Leo-Pie here, BUT he is a bit of a douche-bag and Lydia ... can do better, yep, sorry, it had to be said ;-).
> 
> Secondly: the reason for why they broke up. It's a complicated issue, it really is, and I'm not saying that stay-at-home mothers are not successful in their own right (I know a stay-at-home mother who makes INCREDIBLE crafts projects with her kids all the time, she is super invested in getting them into culture and arts and books, I'm always in awe of that) but having a successful career as a woman under 40 with kids ... yeah ... problem. I'm sure it's possible, somewhere, somehow, if the stars align and everything is perfect, but where I'm from, women with degrees higher than a BA have significantly less kids than other women, simply because employers for women with MAs, MBAs, MSs,or PhDs will very much hesitate to hire someone they have to be afraid of will start having kids at any time and be on maternity leave for up to a year at a time (I'm from a country where that's actually possible, which I guess might now kick us in our collective social-democratic butt, although that is of course a very simplified explanation of our demographic problem). 
> 
> I guess it depends on what kind of job you would like to have. There are people who work for a living and that's fine, and there are people who live for their work, and in my headcanon of Lydia she falls into the second category, which is why it makes sense for me to have her decide she'll forego having children in favor of becoming the most successful professional that she can possibly be. And since I see her as either a CEO or a University Professor of Physics, I just ... don't see her having kids. I wish that wasn't a choice women had to make, but it is, and there's no need to sugar-coat it.
> 
> That being said, if one partner desperately wants kids and the other really doesn't - I'm afraid it's just not going to work, no matter how much they love each other. Giving up a life's dream for another person is tough stuff, and I really wouldn't recommend it, period. Hence the break-up. 
> 
> I tried to word her explanation on that in a way that wouldn't offend, but in case it did, here's a more elaborate explanation (and if the wording in the story didn't offend but this explanation did, I'm truly sorry).
> 
> Whew, that whole spiel is now going to end up below the End-Notes section for the next chapter (does that bother anyone else? It really annoys me and I guess I'm too blind to see the button that would make that stop) but I just wanted to go ahead and say it anyways.
> 
> Oh, fair warning, the next chapter has probably more angst than everything I have written in this verse so far. You've been warned.
> 
> Neeeeeeext Up: Pregnant Derek, a Disney Wedding, some truly horrifying name suggestions, a big sister who has very clear expectations for her sibling, an accident, a birth, and - last but not least - a cute little baby.


End file.
